Description
Athena rests her left arm on a pillar, over which is draped her "aegis" (a powerful and protective scaly animal skin) with a Gorgon head. Athena's pose exemplifies the grace associated with the Classical art of late 5th-century Athens. Standing beside her would have been the individual honored in the official decree, inscribed below.
Provenance
E. Zoumpoulakis, Athens, [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Joseph Brummer, New York and Paris, 1924 [Brummer inv. no. P1350]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1925, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Inscriptions
[Inscription] On top molding: NOΣ (dot underneath the Σ); [Inscription] On bottom molding: ANEPI (dot underneath the A and the I).
Credit
Acquired by Henry Walters, 1925