Victory : The winged
Roman goddess of victory, adopted from the similar
Greek deity,
Nike, served as a model for the winged
angel of
Christian art.
Victory symbolizes
invincibility. In
mythology she is the daughter of
Pallas and
Styx. The
Romans used her as a
symbol of the invincibility of their own empire, and she became the protector of the Roman city and state. But as emperors and others converted to Christianity, Victory kept her place alongside Christian imagery, such as
angels. Like angels, Victory acted as a
messenger of the gods, especially bestowing news of victory in battle.
In art,
Victory is shown as an obviously
female figure, with prominent breasts. Usually, one breast is exposed from the flowing
tunic; sometimes she is portrayed naked with a mantle. She is crowned with
laurel. She holds
medallions and
palm branches, which Christian artists borrowed for their angels. Her image appears in funerary art, ceremonial and triumphal art, statuary, and on
coins.
While
Victory joined winged
angels in art of the
Roman Empire beginning in the fourth century, she never became confused with angels, nor became an angel. She was always distinguished from them by her female form. It was not until the
Renaissance that
Christian artists began to portray angels as
females.