Goddess Minerva/Athena with owl. Rome, 1st-3rd century A.D. Bronze. Provenance: private collection in Paris. Acquired on the art market in the 1980s. In good state of preservation. Measurements: 9 cm (height); 11,6 cm (height with base). This sculpture could belong to a private lararium as a sculpture of private cult of the goddess Athena. She wears the Doric vertical plume that forms a wide fold at the level of the hips. On her chest she wears the aegis, the breastplate that Zeus had himself made from the skin of Amalthea, the goat that loved him, and which he turned into an attribute of his protective power, sharing it with his daughter Athena. In the center of the aegis, carefully drawn as animal skin in the mold and cold retouched, is represented the gorgoneion, the prophylactic mask of the gorgon Medusa, characteristic of the representations of Athena and also as a symbol of protection of the peoples and armies over which she exercised her guardianship. The head is crowned with the Attic helmet. The position of her hand with the thumb open, corresponds, as can be deduced from the iconographic comparison with other works, especially of oriental origin, to the attitude of holding the circular shield that would be arranged vertically, resting on the ground, based on the model of the Athena Parthenos of Phidias. The other hand holds the owl of Athena, a bird that accompanies the goddess.