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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Bronwen, post: 391559, member: 5833&quot;]Without being able to touch it &amp; going by photos alone, I would have thought she was bronze.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Possible it has been filled in with plaster or other non-metallic material for weight &amp; stability.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>There&#039;s definitely a post-neoclassical sensibility at work here, with a mix of conventions.&nbsp; Some things are traditional attributes of Athena/Minerva: helmet; &#039;scaled&#039; corselet over female attire; &amp; do I see a hint of a gorgoneion (Medusa head) at the décolletage?&nbsp; The little wings on the helmet really belong to Perseus&#039; cap of invisibility (see Canova&#039;s sculpture).&nbsp; If it was the head alone, I would have thought the figure was male, as the hair does not trail down past the shoulders.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]135826[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>The feminizing touches, the puff sleeves &amp; sweetheart neckline, the size &amp; prominence of the breasts, tell me the original does not predate the 20th century.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A spear would be appropriate to Athena/Minerva.&nbsp; I agree that the sculptor probably had that goddess in mind, but Bellona shares some attributes, &amp; the hand/arm positions of this <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Frig,_Stowe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_886720.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Frig,_Stowe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_886720.jpg" rel="nofollow">sculpture of Frig</a> may give a clue to what your lady once held.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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