The Winged Victory of Samothrace

In 2th  of July 2011, me and some of my schoolmates went to Europe to attend culture dancing festival in Roman, France. After attending festival in 12^th of July we took a trip in Europe. We stay to Paris in 3 days and then went to another country in Europe. On our first day in Paris we went one of the world’s famous tower and yes it’s Eiffel tower and then we went to museum louver that placed in Paris too.

            It’s a huge museum with so many collection, when we went to a staircase that called Daru Staircase        in the middle of it we can saw a tall marble sculpture called The Winged Victory of Samothrace, also called the Nike of Samothrace, is a 2nd century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). Since 1884, it has been prominently displayed at the Louvre and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world.

 

The Nike of Samothrace, discovered in 1863, is estimated to have been created around 190 BC. It was created to not only honor the goddess, Nike, but to honor a sea battle. It conveys a sense of action and triumph as well as portraying artful flowing drapery through its features which the Greeks considered ideal beauty.

Modern excavations suggest that the Victory occupied a niche in an open-air theater and also suggest it accompanied an altar that was within view of the ship monument of Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337–283 BC). Rendered in white Parian marble, the figure originally formed part of the Samothrace temple complex dedicated to the Great gods, Megaloi Theoi. It stood on a rostral pedestal of gray marble from Lartos representing the prow of a ship (most likely a trihemiolia), and represents the goddess as she descends from the skies to the triumphant fleet. Before she lost her arms, which have never been recovered, Nike's right arm was raised, cupped round her mouth to deliver the shout of Victory. The work is notable for its convincing rendering of a pose where violent motion and sudden stillness meet, for its graceful balance and for the rendering of the figure's draped garments, compellingly depicted as if rippling in a strong sea breeze. Similar traits can be seen in the Laocoön group which is a reworked copy of a lost original that was likely close both in time and place of origin to Nike, but while Laocoon, vastly admired by Renaissance and classicist artists, has come to be seen as a more self-conscious and contrived work, Nike of Samothrace is seen as an iconic depiction of triumphant spirit and of the divine momentarily coming face to face with man. It is possible, however, that the power of the work is enhanced by the very fact that the head and arms are missing.

The statue’s outstretched right wing is a symmetric plaster version of the original left one. As with the arms, the figure's head has never been found, but various other fragments have since been found: in 1950, a team led by Karl Lehmann unearthed the missing right hand of the Louvre's Winged Victory. The fingerless hand had slid out of sight under a large rock, near where the statue had originally stood; on the return trip home, Dr Phyllis Williams Lehmann identified the tip of the Goddess's ring finger and her thumb in a storage drawer at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, where the second Winged Victory is displayed; the fragments have been reunited with the hand, which is now in a glass case in the Louvre next to the podium on which the statue stands.

The statue now stands over a supplementary platform over the prow that allows a better contemplation but was not present in the original. The different degree of finishing of the sides has led scholars to think that it was intended to be seen from three-quarters on the left.

A partial inscription on the base of the statue includes the word "Rhodios" (Rhodian), indicating that the statue was commissioned to celebrate a naval victory by Rhodes, at that time the most powerful maritime state in the Aegean.

The product of an unknown sculptor, the Victory is believed to date to approximately 190 BC. When first discovered on the island of Samothrace (in Greek, Σαμοθρακη — Samothraki) and published in 1863 it was suggested that the Victory was erected by the Macedonian general Demetrius I Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus between 295 and 289 BC. The Archaeological Museum of Samothrace continues to follow these originally established provenance and dates. Ceramic evidence discovered in recent excavations has revealed that the pedestal was set up about 200 BC, though some scholars still date it as early as 250 BC or as late as 180. Certainly, the parallels with figures and drapery from the Pergamon Altar (dated about 170 BC) seem strong. However, the evidence for a Rhodian commission of the statue has been questioned, and the closest artistic parallel to the Nike of Samothrace are figures depicted on Macedonian coins. Samothrace was an important sanctuary for the Hellenistic Macedonian kings. The most likely battle commemorated by this monument is, perhaps, the battle of Cos in 255 BC, in which Antigonus II Gonatas of Macedonia won over the fleet of Ptolemy II of Egypt.

In April 1863, the Victory was discovered by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau, who sent it to Paris in the same year. The statue has been reassembled in stages since its discovery. The prow was reconstructed from marble debris at the site by Champoiseau in 1879 and assembled in situ before being shipped to Paris.

After 1884, the statue was positioned where it would visually dominate the Daru staircase. Since 1883, the marble figure has been displayed in the Louvre, while a plaster replica stands in the museum at the original location of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods on Samothrace.

In the autumn of 1939, the Winged Victory was removed from her perch in anticipation of the outbreak of war. All the museums of Paris were closed on August 25. Artwork and objects were packed for removal to locations deemed more safe outside Paris for safekeeping. On the night of September 3, the statue descended the staircase on a wooden ramp which was constructed across the steps. During the years of World War II, the statue sheltered in safety in the Château de Valençay along with the Venus de Milo and Michelangelo's Slaves.

The discovery in 1948 of the hand raised in salute, which matched a fragment in Vienna, established the modern reconstruction — without trumpet — of the hand raised in epiphanic greeting.

Despite its significant damage and incompleteness, the Victory is held to be one of the great surviving masterpieces of sculpture from the Hellenistic period, and from the entire Greco-Roman era. The statue shows a mastery of form and movement which has impressed critics and artists since its discovery. It is particularly admired for its naturalism and for the fine rendering of the draped garments. It is considered one of the Louvre's greatest treasures, and since the late 19th century it has been displayed in the most dramatic fashion, at the head of the sweeping Daru staircase. The loss of the head and arms, while regrettable in a sense, is held by many to enhance the statue's depiction of the supernatural.

The art historian H.W. Janson has pointed out that unlike earlier Greek or Near Eastern sculptures, Nike creates a deliberate relationship to the imaginary space around the goddess. The wind that has carried her and which she is fighting off, straining to keep steady – as mentioned the original mounting had her standing on a ship's prow, just having landed – is the invisible complement of the figure and the viewer is made to imagine it. At the same time, this expanded space heightens the symbolic force of the work; the wind and the sea are suggested as metaphors of struggle, destiny and divine help or grace. This kind of interplay between a statue and the space conjured up would become a common device in baroque and romantic art, about two thousand years later. It is present in Bernini's sculpture of David: David's gaze and pose shows where he is seeing his adversary Goliath and his awareness of the moment – but it is rare in ancient art.

The Victory soon became a cultural icon to which artists responded in many different ways. For example, Abbott Handerson Thayer's A Virgin (1892–93) is a well-known painted allusion. When Filippo Tommaso Marinetti issued his Futurist Manifesto in 1909, he chose to contrast his movement with the supposedly defunct artistic sentiments of the Winged Victory: "... a race-automobile which seems to rush over exploding powder is more beautiful than the 'Victory of Samothrace'."

The 1913 sculpture Unique Forms of Continuity in Space by the Futuristic sculptor Umberto Boccioni, currently located at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, was highly influenced by the statue. It bears an underlying resemblance to Nike of Samothrace.

Numerous copies exist in museums and galleries around the world; one of the best-known copies stands outside the Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas. The first FIFA World Cup trophy, commissioned in 1930 and designed by Abel Lafleur, was based on the model.

This statue was a favorite of Frank Lloyd Wright and he used reproductions of it in a number of his buildings, including Ward Willits House, Darwin D. Martin House and Storer House.

Swedish author Gunnar Ekelöf made Nike a central image in his poem Samothrace, written in 1941, where the faceless deity, arms outstretched like sails, is made into a symbol of the fight and the coming victory against Nazism and the struggle for freedom throughout history. It also features in the Matthew Reilly novel Seven Ancient Wonders, where it is fictionally made part of the Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

The second-largest replica of this statue in the United States stands at Calvary Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is 8'1" high.

On February 3, 1999, according to the Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, "residents of the Aegean island of Samothrace, the birthplace of the renowned Greek sculpture Nike of Samothrace, aka the Winged Victory, embarked on a letter-writing campaign to have this finest extant of Hellenistic sculpture returned to their homeland.

In a letter signed by the island's mayor, the locals urged Greek politicians to intervene and request that the Louvre museum, where the statue is kept, acknowledge that the sculpture belongs in its natural environment.

Louvre and its most eminent collection

Louvre Museum, Paris

I finally got a chance to actually visit Louvre Museum at summer 2010. It is located in Paris, France and it was the best, the most elegant, the grandest museum I have ever been in. I was so excited and really looked forward to actually see the eminent Mona Lisa painting. I saw many paintings made by prominent artists such as John Constable, Jean-Antoine Watteau, Jan Van Eyck and many more. The paintings were absolutely fantastic, I had never seen such beautifully made pieces.

me with Mona Lisa on the back

As you can see through the picture above, the painting itself was not more than 40 cm square. But its popularity draws many people there and there was a line around the painting so the visitors can only see it from about 10 meters away. I do not actually understand why it is so popular, but according to what my tour guide said there are reasons why Mona Lisa considered as one of the most best paintings in the world.
The history of Mona Lisa remains unclear: neither the identity of the model, nor the order of the portrait, now how long Leonardo worked on or kept it, or the circumstances of his entry into the French royal collection. The woman in the painting said to be the wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Leonardo Da Vinci who happened to be the artist of Mona Lisa said to be using a very difficult and rare technique when creating this piece. Mona Lisa often mentioned as La Joconde, that means 'happy'. 

On Saturday a very bored, my friends and I eventually intend to visit a museumlocated in the old town, all for a walk with my friends. Visit to the museum was not easy, ranging from feeling lazy to menunjungi museums or museum regulationsthat should not be photographed. Gathered in the school plan must ngaret one hour due to late. Our 10 hour road from the school toward the busway Blok M bus stop, an hour on the busway is not felt because we were joking with hebohnya.

When we got dihalte busway City, we were walking on the edges of streets full ofmerchants, a definite smell of garbage and exhaust are not stuck into our nostrils.Up to the museum Fatahilah, hunger has been haunting our stomachs hot air wasonce there. So we directly search for food, right in front of the museum Fatahilah. In place of eating, traders belom ready with his food when already at 11 o'clock in the morning. Forced us to wait. When finished eating, we tried to visit the museum not far from the puppet museum Fatahilah, we ask questions with the staff, it turns out if you want to photograph must bring school certificate. Because we did not bring his letter, we were told to meet with your boss puppet museum, diutuslah two of my friends there. The rest waited patiently until the point that I lost my taste for so long.

Then a friend sent me that does not give any results. Since we were already resigned to the museum we Fatahilah. There also does not allow carry in a camera, because we had already resigned daring photographs with a collection insitu by means mengumpetkan camera, no matter how this works, we had 6 cantake pictures with the collection there, I take a picture with the inscription batutuiscollection, but there prasati well as other historical objects. Hours 1:30 we got outof the museum and then we mensudahi Fatahilah our visit in the old town and back to the bus stop for the busway to the city of their homes.

Batutulis inscriptions found in Batutulis, Bogor, is still there. This inscription dates to the year 1455 Saka (1553M), measuring 161 cm high; width 152cm, carved on a flat rock shaped mound in nine lines of text with the letter of ancient Javanese and Sundanese languages of antiquity. At that time King Surawisesa ruling on Sunda.He also entered into an agreement with Portugal in the coconut

Transcription

"Good Good", here's a warning sign for Preb queen who has passed away.Crowned him with the name of Maharaja Sri Baduga Queen Hajj in Sri Pajajaran Pakuan The Queen of the Gods. He was the son of the late Rahiyang god in Gunatiga Void, Void Rahiyang grandson of the late Wastu Kancana in Nusalarang.It was he who made Moumen a hill, mengraskan roads, build forest cover, Membut Sanghiyang Mahawijaya Lake Rena. It was he that. In the five Pandavas ngebam earth Saka (1455)

Fill Inscription

This was Wangna sakakala, prebu purane queen was,

diwastu diya wingaran prebu teacher dewataprana

in Wastu diya wingaran baduga sri maharaja Hajj in pakwan Pajajaran queen queen gods series

any yes nu na nyusuk pakwan

diva kids rahyang sa god noetic (ng) sida mokta dimguna three i (n) cu-noetic noetic rahyang Wastu ka (n) sa plan (ng) mokta sida ka nusalarang

yes ni siya nyiyan sakakala gugunungan ngabalay nyiyan samida, nyiyan sa (ng) h because mahawijaya Talaga, yes siya, Ooi saka, the five Pandavas e (m) tires of the earth

Translation

May the survivors, these warning signs of the late King Queen

Crowned him with the name of the King Master Dewataprana,

crowned (again) he's with the name of Maharaja Sri Ratu Aji Baduga in Sri Pajajaran Pakuan The Queen of the Gods.

It was he who made trenches (defense) Pakuan.

He was the son of god Rahiyang the dipusarakan in Gunatiga Void, Void Wastu Kancana Rahiyang grandson who dipusarakan to Nusa bans.

It was he who made the sign warning of volcanic mountains, making the steps to the forest Samida, make Sahiyang Lake Rena Mahawijaya (made) in (year) Saka "Panca Pandava carry the Earth".

The Asmat are an ethnic group of New Guinea, residing in what is currently the Papua province of Indonesia. They inhabit a region on the island's southern coast, much of it a large wetland sometimes referred to as theAsmat Swamp. The total Asmat population is estimated to be around 70,000. Map showing Papua province in Indonesia Papua is a province of Indonesia comprising part of the western half of the island of New Guinea and nearby islands (see also Western New Guinea).
A subtropical wetland in Florida, USA, with an endangered American Crocodile.
Asmat Swamp is a wetland on the southern coast of New Guinea, located within what is now the Indonesian province of Papua.
The swamp has been a major factor affecting the Asmat. Due to the tidal flooding which frequently occurs in many parts of the swamp, Asmat dwellings have typically been built two or more metres above the ground, raised on wooden posts. In some inland regions, the Asmat have lived in three houses, sometimes as high as twenty-five metres from the ground.
The Asmat have traditionally placed great emphasis on the veneration of ancestors, particularly those who were accomplished warriors. Asmat art, most noticably elaborate wood carving, is designed to honour ancestors. The tide is the regular rising and falling of the oceans surface caused by changes in gravitational forces external to the Earth.
A tree house (also spelled treehouse) is a house that is built among the branches or around the trunk of one or more mature trees and is a least 3m off the ground.
Ancestor worship, also ancestor veneration, is a religious practice based on the belief that ones ancestors possess supernatural powers. ... Carved wooden cranes Wood carving is the process whereby wood is ornamented with any design, by means of sharp cutting tools held in the hand.

The swamp has also isolated the Asmat from other peoples. It was not until the mid-20th century that they came into regular contact with outsiders. Initially, the Asmat had a reputation as headhunters and cannibals, and were left undisturbed. Although the Netherlands laid claim to the western half of the island in 1828, a post of the colonial government was not established in the area until 1938, and it was not until Catholic missionaries arrived in 1958 that significant interaction began. Even today, the Asmat are relatively isolated.
Linguistic classification of the native language(s) of the Asmat people is somewhat problematic, but is generally characterized as being a group of closely related languages or dialects (most mutually intelligible to some degree), known as the Asmat family, which is a sub-family of the Trans–New Guinea language phylum. However, some ethnic groups who speak languages in the Asmat language family, such as the Kamoro and Sempan peoples who live adjacent to the Asmat, are ethnically distinct from Asmat.
Asmat may be thought of as an umbrella term for twelve different ethnic sub-groups with shared linguistic and cultural affinities and sense of shared identity. These twelve Asmat groups include Joirat, Emari Ducur, Bismam, Becembub, Simai, Kenekap, Unir Siran, Unir Epmak, Safan, Aramatak, Bras, and Yupmakcain. Further complicating the issue, these groups speak approximately five dialects (Casuarina Coast Asmat, Yaosakor Asmat, Central Asmat, North Asmat, Citak). However, at some important level these groups share a sense of identity and would likely refer to themselves as "Asmat"
In the museum was also seen statues and jewelry of Asmat.at papua koteka si only for men for covering men genitals.Suku Asmat tribe is also one of the oldest tribes in Indonesia ini.sehingga countries also preserve the tribe residing in Papua ini.But,frequent contact with modern people, they are familiar with money, clothes, rice, and etc.they left cannibalism tradition eating other people.
You can see other Asmat things like a ship,weapon,koteka and many things at national museum at central jakarta in front of monas.

Tugas 3: Kraton Ngayogyakarta

On January 2011, me and my friends went to Yogyakarta for a school trip. One of our destination was the king’s palace, or it is more famous with the name ‘Kasultanan Ngayogyakarta’ or ‘Kraton Ngayogyakarta’. The palace was established in 1756 and located in the downtown of Yogya. This palace is the residence of the Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X who is also the governor of Yogyakarta. Kraton is also a major tourist attraction in the city of Yogyakarta, both in terms of heritage buildings, museums, and customs that exist in it. Here, besides the beauty of the past that can be enjoyed through the architecture of the building, you can also enjoyed traditional art that is served every day in Ward Manganti.

Kraton Ngayogyakarta began to be established by the Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I few months after the Giyanti Agreement in 1755. It was constructed from 1755 and continued for almost 40 years, during the long reign of Hamengkubuwono I. After he died in 1792, little else was added to the complex. Today only the innermost compound is considered as Keraton, whereas the lanes and lesser compounds became part of the city. Location of this palace used a place called Garjitawati. This place used to be a place for taking a break of  the funeral procession of the kings of Mataram (Kartasura and Surakarta) which will be buried in Imogiri. Another version states the location of the palace is a spring, Umbul Pacethokan, which is in the Beringan woods. Bbefore living in this palace, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono I lived in Pesanggrahan Ambar Ketawang, which now is included to the District of Sleman.

Physically, the palace of the Sultan of Yogyakarta has seven main complex, which is Siti Hinggil Ler (the North Hall), Kamandhungan Ler (North Kamandhungan), Sri Manganti, Kedhaton, Kamagangan, Kamandhungan Selatan (South Kamandhungan), and Siti Hinggil Selatan (South Hall). In addition, the Yogyakarta Palace has a variety of cultural heritage both in the form of ceremonies and ancient objects and historic. On the other hand, Sultan Palaceis is also a traditional institution.

Yogyakarta Palace has several museums, the Museum of Painting, Museum of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, Railway Museum and the Batik Museum. In addition, almost all parts of the palace is used for storage of valuable cultural objects, including a replica. In Pagelaran complex, for example, exhibited a variety of custom clothing of the King’s family. The museum opened for public every day except when there is a ceremony. Museum is open from 08:30 AM until 2 PM, except on Friday which is only open until 1 PM.

The first place you’ll see as you enter the palace/museum is the Sri Manganti ward. The Sri Manganti ward is where puppet shows are being held. Then if you keep walking inside, you’ll see the main gate, called the Danapratapa gate. Inside the gate there is a courtyard which is called the Court ‘Pelataran Dalam’. This is the main part of the palace, where the main buildings are located here which can not be entered by the public, including the Yellow building (the place where Sultan lives) and Prabayeksa ward, the most sacred place in the palace that used to storage the most sacred heirlooms and jewelry.

There are some wards inside the palace complex, like Prabayeksa Ward and Kencana Ward and Manis Ward that are used for the coronation ceremony of Sultan and entertain important guests of the Sultanate. Manis ward, which lies more in advance, used to hold a banquet or party for the guests of the Sultan. 

Wood poles and rafters made ​​wards engraved with  beautiful pattern and painted by the dominant colors of green,  yellow, ivory and red brick, the traditional colors that were encountered in the Sultan's Palace. According to the guide, Kencana Ward has been used to welcome country and royal guests from abroad such as Prince Charles and Hillary Clinton.

Inside the Kraton, there is a museum dedicated to the late Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, the father of the present Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX was a famous political figure and leader in Indonesia. His support and contribution for the Republic of Indonesia to gain independence are sincerely respected and recognized by almost every citizen.

Yogyakarta was temporary capital of Indonesia (1946-1949) and by law is granted the status of special region equals to province. The museum exhibit gilt copies of sacred Pusaka (the heirlooms), gifts from foreign monarchs, gamelan, royal carriages and some photos of the royal families and family tree.

There is a special pavillion dedicated to the active participation of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX for the struggle of Indonesia's independence. Besides his position as a traditional leader as the Sultan of Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, he was also appointed as the Governor of Yogyakarta Special Region for life by the President of RI.

SRI SULTAN HAMENGKUBUWONO IX MUSEUM: THE SULTAN’S DESK

Entering the Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX museum. which was built in 1992, you’ll see the glass-walled room, with several chairs and tables. The desk and chair was used by Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX and the other fighters to plan the attacks of ‘Serangan Umum 1 Maret’ in Yogyakarta back then. In addition, there are also a collection of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX’s office desk along with other objects such as antique clocks, charter, lights, and so on. IN another room of the museum, you’ll see a room full of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX’s antique clocks, general clothes, toys that he used to play during his childhood, old cameras, old documents, and others. In the last room there is also a collection of Sri Sultan Hamengkuwono IX, who became the father of Scout, such as his scout shirt, scout hat, photographs of the Sultan while fostering Scouts. In addition there is a collection of award star Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX has achieved from the government and other empire abroad. Apparently, Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX is famous throughout the world.

Here is the picture of Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX's desk.

BATIK MUSEUM

On the other side of the Keraton, you’ll find the Kraton Yogyakarta Batik Museum. Kraton Yogyakarta Batik Museum was inaugurated by Sri Sultan HB X on October 31, 2005. The museum occupies one of the buildings in the compound Kraton Yogyakarta. In the museum collections are stored various batik cloth batik to equipment from the Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono VIII to X. It also saved some of the collection presents a number of employers in Jogja batik and other areas.The material exhibited in the museum include fashion coronation of Sri Sultan HamengkuBuwono X as King of the Palace of Yogyakarta, a variety of fabrics Breeds grants from Sri Sultan hamengkubuwono VIII and IX, preservatives and dye batik process such as a cup of wood, mahogany, hundred, lerak, Srigading flowers, wood Jambal , even old-fashioned iron and even bicycles in this museum. No less interesting, in this museum there are also relics of ancient wells age.

Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X states, in the past, batik art not only to practice drawing and painting skills. Batik art will actually laden ethical and aesthetic education for women in his day. Batik art became very important in life, because of batik cloth was woven tightly in the cultural circles of community life.

In addition, batik also has significance in marking an important event in the life of Javanese people. For example truntum batik style, suitable for ceremonies or Midodareni consent. Nagasari and various other shades, perfect for wedding ceremonies. But there is also such a ban wearing parangrusak style batik cloth, to avoid a broken marriage. While wearing a cloth or sidomukti Sidoluhur motives, the parents hope that their children will become a prominent.