CIRCA 1ST CENTURY A.D .

The attribute of the Corinthian helmet worn high on the crown of her head identifies this fragment as a representation of Minerva, or Athena in the Greek pantheon, the warrior goddess who was born fully armed from the skull of her father Zeus. Widely worshipped by the Romans throughout the empire, she was celebrated in the calendar over five days during the Quinquatrus, between 19-23 March. Given her popularity, representations of the goddess were common in antiquity and various sculptural types are known.
This example represents the Minerva of Velletri type, based on a copy of a lost Greek original, possibly in bronze, dating to 5th Century B.C. Cf. "Athena," in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Vol. II, Zurich and Munich, nos. 247 and 253 for the type.