The Goddess of Victory on the Brandenburg Gate
The goddess of victory on the Quadriga of the Brandenburg Gate was designed by Schadow in 1793. Napoleon had the Quadriga taken to Paris as war-spoil in December 1806, in twelve crates. Only in 1814 did she return, supplemented with the Prussian Iron Cross.
1 The abduction
21 December 1806. Napoleon had been a month in Berlin, ruling Prussia by military government. He called sculptor Schadow to the palace Unter den Linden: «The Quadriga is beautiful. I take her with me. It depends on your work; do not resist, and she will be respected.» Schadow was 48, director of the Berlin Academy. He protested once, gave in. Twelve French soldiers climbed the Gate, dismantled the Quadriga in a day. Twelve wooden crates travelled in three weeks to Paris. There she lay in a Louvre shed, not displayed.
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