Statue of Winged Victory From a Photograph by Robert Thomas Griffin, graphite on paper

This drawing represents the Greek Hellenic sculpture, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, from Paris’ Louvre Museum, recovered from the Aegean Sea in 1863.

An offering to the goddess of Victory, the marble sculpture celebrated triumphant sea battles. Canadian airman Flight Lieutenant Griffin drew it as a powerful symbol of hope and resistance when, while serving with the Royal Flying Corps, he was interned in Germany’s Aachen prisoner of war camp. A distinct British motif of Winged Victory, from the Queen Victoria Memorial, was later inscribed on the Victory Medal of 1919, awarded to ‘all who served in the theatre of war’. Artist copyright: expired / RAF Museum.