Pallas Athene

1898

Oil on canvas, 75 × 75 cm. Wien Museum, Vienna

An armored goddess stares straight out at the viewer, gripping a tall spear. The square canvas sits in a frame lettered with her name.

An ancient goddess is recast as an allegory, shown as a patroness rather than acting in a scene from myth. An old subject becomes a modern emblem.
It is signed and dated in the upper left corner.
Look at her breastplate, where a Medusa head sticks out its tongue.
Gold on the helmet and scaled armor catches the light against a dark ground.
It now hangs in the museum's fin-de-siècle Vienna galleries.

The goddess goes by her Greek name here, while the museum's subject index uses her Roman name, Minerva. The work has appeared in the museum's own catalogues since 1985.

Image: CC BY 4.0, Foto: TimTom, Wien Museum · CC BY 4.0