White marble bust of the goddess Minerva, wearing a plumed helmet with chain mail over a garment loosely gathered at the neck and a cloak with two cords. She looks to her left and slightly upwards. The base, which is carved in one with the bust, is decorated with inverted volutes and with a shell.

Produced in Venice, Italy

Minerva was the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She was born from the head of Jupiter, fully armed and clad in armor. 

Here, even though she wears the masculine helmet of the army, she remains feminine with the atributes of women of the 18th century: a full figure and long hair. She is dressed as the women from the antiquity, with a draped dress, allowing us to qualify this piece as belonging to the neoclassical movement.

Tommaso Rues, Minerva, c. 1680s; Waddesdon (National Trust) Accepted by HM Government in lieu of inheritance tax and allocated to the National Trust for display at Waddesdon Manor, 1963; acc. no. 3647.
Photo: Eost & Macdonald © National Trust, Waddesdon Manor

These images are provided under the Creative Commons licence agreement: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0