Roman Bronze

Exhibited by Charles Ede

Material Bronze

Dimensions 14 cm

Status Not Vetted

About the Work

The goddess is running forwards with her head turned to the left, the billowing wind revealing the shape of her legs and navel through the thick drapery of the belted peplos. She wears a short cloak that is pinned in front of her shoulders, a pair of buttoned sandals and an aegis showing the head of Medusa and a pair of contorted snakes. Pushed back on her head is a Corinthian helmet with a tall, plumed crest of finely incised feathers, under which is tucked her centrally parted hair. She once held a shield in her left hand and a spear in her lowered right hand.

The upper section of the bow and fingertips of her right hand are broken away. A square section to the right shoulder missing, where the ancient plug to cover a casting fault has fallen out. An area of damage to the cloak by the left shoulder blade likely cause from being stuck, and a small circular area of restoration on the top of the left foot.

Minerva, or Athena to the Greeks, was the goddess of wisdom and war.

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Provenance

Florench L. Rauh (Mrs Godfrey Goldmark), New York, USA; acquired prior to 1940
Jan Mitchell (1913-2009), New York, USA; probably acquired 1940-1974, thence by descent

Literature

Compare W. Froehner, Collection Julien Gréau. Les bronzes antiques (1883), no.917 and S. Reinach, Répertoire de la statuaire grecque et romaine, vol.2 (Paris, 1908), p.288, no.4. Also compare an example in the British Museum, London, acc.no.1884,0614.5.