What's the Headless Statue in front of Caesars Palace?

What's the story behind the headless statue in the big pool in front of Caesars Palace?

In 1863, Charles Champoiseau, an amateur French archaeologist, was exploring the Greek island of Samothrace when he stumbled on some assorted bits of marble.

Like all good colonialists of his time, Champoiseau boxed them up and shipped them home to Paris, where they were reassembled into their former glory: an eight-foot-high figure of Nike, the goddess of victory, dating from the second or third century BCE.

Though missing her head, both arms, and a foot, she’s nonetheless considered one of the finest examples of sculpture from the Hellenistic era and is better known today as the "Winged Victory of Samothrace," housed in the Louvre Museum.

Although this particular representation of Nike is thought to commemorate a naval battle, she was also goddess of athletic victory (thus, the eponymous footwear) and other contests -- to wit, of skill and chance. So it's not illogical that her likeness is a sort of sentinel at the Strip-facing fountains of Caesars Palace.

This version of the statue was hewn from Carrara marble by Italian sculptors and shipped to the United States for the opening of Caesars in August 1966. And there it still stands, 57 years later.

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Comments

Kevin Lewis Mar-01-2023

Actually...

It represents what even a Greek goddess would look like after an evening at the crap tables. You know, an arm and a leg, etc....

Dave_Miller_DJTB Mar-01-2023

No photo?

Seriously? No photo to remind us what you’re talking about?

Ray Mar-01-2023

word for word

You guys just copied word for word the QoD of 06/06/2005 and stopped before the Greek attempt to regain the original. But THAT Qod did have a picture...Dave, just google headless statue at Caesar's Palace. I wasn't clever enough to be able to re-post the picture.

O2bnVegas Mar-01-2023

and...ta da.

That was MY QoD way back then.  I was so proud to see it included at the time. I see they have added it to today's question.

Candy

Straski Mar-01-2023

Addiction

I gave up smoking, gambling and drinking. Now I am addicted to the Las Vegas advisor every day. Now I am going to work on my sugar addiction.

Roy Furukawa Mar-01-2023

Nike Today

And now the name Nike inspires the thought of a money grubbing corporation that uses cheap labor in Asia to exploit young kids and their families that can ill afford their high priced products. They need that huge markup to pay millionaire athletes to con those impressionable young kids into wanting their products.

Bud Ackley Mar-01-2023

Re: Ray's comment

Ray wrote, "You guys just copied word for word the QoD of 06/06/2005 ..."

Including the typos. If a QoD answer didn't have at least one typo, I'd assume LVA got hacked.

Bud Ackley Mar-01-2023

Re: Roy's comment

Roy wrote above:

"Nike Today

And now the name Nike inspires the thought of a money grubbing corporation that uses cheap labor in Asia to exploit young kids and their families that can ill afford their high priced products. They need that huge markup to pay millionaire athletes to con those impressionable young kids into wanting their products." 

Excellent assessment. Very well written!!

Question of the Day - 01 March 2023

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