This battered sculpture is a Roman copy derived from the cult statue of Athena by Pheidias, which stood in the Parthenon.
The cult statue was so celebrated in its day that copies of it appeared in many forms: in miniature replicas, on coins and in imitations all around the ancient Greek and Roman world. This head must have been from a copy approximately life-size. Remnants of her helmet are visible, as are the griffins that the ancient writer Pausanias tells us decorated the top of it
Copenhagen, Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek 1791
Lippold: Griechische Plastik, 146 (n.6)
Poulsen: Katalog over Antike Skulpturen Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, 91
Arndt & Amelung: Photografische Einzelaufnamen Antiker Skulpturen, 3845-7
Hill: Art Bulletin, vol.18 no.2 (June 1936), 161
Said to have been found at Amelia in Umbria, central Italy. Later acquired by Copenhagen from Munich around 1900
