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The Newton Hall Athena

The goddess wears her characteristic helmet and snake-fringed breastplate (aegis). Better preserved versions of this figure show that in her right hand (now missing) she once held a spear. This Roman Athena is based on a Greek statue of about 350 BC. The original was probably dedicated in a sanctuary. Her Roman counterpart is likely to have been displayed in a private home. Sir Charles Walston, Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum from 1883-9, bought the Athena in France in the early 1900s. It is now named after his home, Newton Hall, near Cambridge.

Date: around AD 100–200 

Object Number: GR.1.2006

see the online collections database