Plaster casts for originals: Franco-Ottoman diplomacy regarding the Winged Victory of Samothrace from 1863 to 1891

Abstract

In 1863, a French archaeological mission led by Consul Charles Champoiseau dug up part of the bust and body of a large female statue on the now Greek island of Samothrace. Currently, the Winged Victory of Samothrace is one of the most reproduced artworks in the world, but its discovery was surrounded by political intrigues. Further excavations were planned, but the Ottoman Empire’s policies on accessing and extracting objects from archaeological sites became an obstacle. In order to continue his work, Champoiseau began a series of negotiations with Osman Hamdi Bey, a painter and the Director of the Ottoman Imperial Museum, in which he used copies of the statue as bargaining chips. Two plaster casts of the sculpture were sent to Hamdi Bey as diplomatic gifts with the intention of defusing political tensions. The main aim of this proposal is to examine the political implications of the plaster casts of the Winged Victory that travelled between France and the Ottoman Empire. Artículo aceptado en proceso de revisión.