Tomorrow, Tuesday, September 3, the Louvre Museum will launch an appeal for donations for the conservation of the second century BC famous marble statue Winged Victory of Samothrace. The campaign is titled “Everybody Can Be Maecenas”. Also tomorrow the statue will be removed from from one of the most advantageous spots in the museum, at the top of the imposing Daru staircase (also to be restored), where it will return next summer.

The cost of the renovation will amount to four million euros both for the staircase and the statue. The museum has already raised three million euros ($3.9 million) in donations from Nippon Television Holdings, Fimalac and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Discovered in Samothrace in April 1863 by the French consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau, Nike of Samothrace suffered the same fate as the Parthenon Marbles. The statue was stolen and sent to Paris the same year. It 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.

The Winged Victory is one of the Louvre’s main attractions along with the Mona Lisa and a statue of Venus de Milo.

Individuals and companies can make contributions on: www.louvresamothrace.fr or www.tousmecenes.fr