Clodion modeled this Minerva in Rome in 1766, drawing on his study of ancient sculpture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art identifies several classical sources, particularly the Minerva Giustiniani. The result is a new eighteenth-century composition shaped by close attention to antiquity.
The goddess wears a helmet and draped garments; her raised hand once held a spear. The shield’s visible interior should be distinguished from its decorated outer face. These details help reconstruct the composition without treating missing elements as though they were still present.
Terracotta gives the figure a different scale and surface from the ancient marble models that inspired it. The object shows how an artist could learn through imitation and still produce an interpretation of his own.