Louvre collects millions to restore masterpiece

The Paris Louvre, one of the world's largest museums, will be able to fund restoration work on the Winged Victory of Samothrace, one of its masterpieces, after collecting one million euros in individual donations. The work will also include repairs to the large staircase that leads up to the 2nd-century BC marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike, the museum told Agence France Presse on Monday. It said about 6,700 individual donors had contributed over the last four months, with the rest of the projected total cost of four million euros ($5.5 million) coming from sponsors. The Winged Victory is currently undergoing restoration work in a nearby hall and is expected to return to its established site at the museum in mid-2014. Work on the monumental staircase should be finished by March next year. The statue was discovered on the Greek island of Samothrace in 1863 and then taken to Paris for exhibition at the Louvre where it overlooks the so-called Daru staircase.