Roman statuette of Minerva with her owl, c.1st century AD
Bronze
Height: 15.3cm
11409 TA
Charles Ede, London
Further images
Bronze statuette representing the goddess Minerva (Athena) in a strong, stoic pose, and holding an owl in her outstretched hand. She wears a Corinthian helmet with high crest pushed back...
Bronze statuette representing the goddess Minerva (Athena) in a strong, stoic pose, and holding an owl in her outstretched hand. She wears a Corinthian helmet with high crest pushed back on her head, and a floor-length peplos with an aegis of the head of the gorgon Medusa, surrounded by a border of writhing snakes, and with incised scales for the material between the head and border. The eyes were formerly inlaid, and she would have held a spear in her raised left hand.
Intact some minor wear to the patina, the staff from her left hand missing.
This statuette is of particularly fine quality, and is rare in having the owl still present. The owl was sacred to Minerva, and draws attention to her role as the Goddess of Wisdom.
Intact some minor wear to the patina, the staff from her left hand missing.
This statuette is of particularly fine quality, and is rare in having the owl still present. The owl was sacred to Minerva, and draws attention to her role as the Goddess of Wisdom.
Provenance
Mr. Paul-Joseph Angoulvent (1899-1976), France; acquired 1956, inventory number B19
Angoulvent was former director of the chalcography of the Louvre, founder then president of the Presses Universitaires de France from 1934 to 1968.
When remounting the statuette in August 2023 an old scrap of French newspaper was found inside the figure, dated 4th October 1954, presumably indicating when it was last mounted.