Statuette of Minerva

50 B.C.–A.D. 25

Medium

Bronze

Dimensions

20.6 × 5 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-234036

This statuette of Minerva once brandished a spear and shield, and is identifiable by the goddess’s war-like pose and the protective aegis, bearing the head of the gorgon Medusa, that covers her chest and back. A griffin, a mythological creature known for its vigilance, crouches atop her helmet. The silver that embellishes the goddess’s eyes, the gorgon's head, and the ornament on her helmet is still preserved, but the silver snakes that originally decorated the edge of her aegis are missing. This image of the goddess was intentionally created in an archaistic or old-fashioned style. It depicts a statue type, the Athena Promachos ("the first in battle"), that is known in many versions, most famously that created by the Greek sculptor Pheidias for the Athenian Acropolis in the fifth-century B.C. The Romans admired Greek sculpture and often created works that resembled the earlier styles of the Greeks. Furthermore, older images of deities, or at least images that looked older, were considered more venerable.