A diplomat and amateur archaeologist, Charles Champoiseau was vice-consul of France in Andrinople. In 1862, he decided to undertake archaeological excavations in Samothrace, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea. As Emperor Napoleon III was a great enthusiast of archaeology and history, Champoiseau hoped to find pieces to offer him among the ruins of the sanctuary of the Great Gods. On 25 April 1863, the workers discovered various parts of a large female statue, as well as fragments of wings. It was quickly deduced that this statue represented Niké, the winged Greek goddess of victory.