Menrva (Minerva) of Arezzo 3rd-2nd C. BCE

April 11, 2020

Menrva (Minerva) of Arezzo 3rd-2nd C. BCE

"The "Minerva of Arezzo" is a bronze Etruscan statue, presumably, made according to a Greek model attributed to Praxitele. As far as the Etruscan statuary concerns, this sculpture, with the so-called “Arringarore”, a standing funerary statue dating from end of the 2nd-century BC, and the “Chimera of Arezzo”, is one of the highlights of the visit to the Florence’s Museum.

The “Minerva of Arezzo” was found in the 1541 near the church of San Lorenzo in Arezzo; conspicuous remains of a large roman villa, in recent times, had been excavated in the same place. The Minerva was bought by Cosimo Medici and transported inside his "studio" in Palazzo Vecchio.

From that time, with a lack of philological accuracy, the statue was undergone to several restorative measures. Eight years ago the statue is been disassembled and any not original parts removed. From a few days this artwork is again exposed inside the Florence Archaeological Museum in a dedicated room."

-taken from flickr link below