Minerva

Head of the Minerva, the Roman goddess of war, poetry, medicine, magic and crafts. Her metal helmet has not survived. This sculpture was recovered from the east end of the Roman Temple pf Mithras site at Bucklersbury House, London EC4; just within the entrance under the penultimate floor, across line of the north arcading. The scale and pose of the head suggests that this piece may have originated in a full-size statue. The face and neck are highly polished. The goddess’s hair projects from beneath the plain ridge which provided the seating for the lost helmet, held in place by two holes drilled into the top of the head. The eyes are plain and the pupils were probably originally painted on. The brows are clear-cut and the nose is long and straight. The mouth is small and neat. The absence of drilled grooves in the hair together with the lack of drilling in the eyes might suggest an early second-century date for the piece, even as early as c. 130 CE.