About the Artwork
With its startling combination of cool blues, warm oranges, and creamy whites, this fluid and exuberant oval painting by Jean-Honoré Fragonard showcases the gestural brushwork and bold color contrasts that would profoundly inspire French impressionist painters of the following century. Wearing a golden helmet and carrying a shield, the warrior turns dynamically, as if paused momentarily, her cloak still fluttering behind her, the plumes of her helmet still dancing. Her classical attire suggests that she is intended to represent Minerva, the Roman goddess famed for her strong sense of justice and innate wisdom.
The Goddess Minerva
ca. 1772
Jean Honoré Fragonard
1732-1806
French
----------
Oil on canvas
Unframed (oval): 27 5/8 × 21 7/8 inches (70.2 × 55.6 cm) Framed: 39 × 29 × 4 inches (99.1 × 73.7 × 10.2 cm)
Paintings
European Painting
Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb
53.354
Public Domain
Markings
Please note: This section is empty
Provenance
possibly Duc de Liancourt;(Lucien Guiraud, Paris, France);
Wildenstein (Paris, France);
Monsieur Destrem (20 rue Roquepine, Paris, France);
January 5, 1923, acquired by (René Gimpel, Paris, France);
1925, purchased by Mr. & Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb (Detroit, Michigan, USA);
1953-present, bequest to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
Please note: This section is empty
The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
We welcome your feedback for correction and/or improvement.
Suggest FeedbackPublished References
French Art of the 18th Century. Exh. cat., Cincinnati Art Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art. Cincinnati and Baltimore, 1924, no. 14 and no. 7.
The Third Loan Exhibition of Old Masters Italian, Flemish, Dutch, German, French, Spanish and English Fifteenth to Nineteenth Century. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1926, cat. 50 (ill.). [lent by Edgar B. Whitcomb.]
Fourth Loan Exhibition of Old Masters: French Paintings of the Eighteenth Century. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1926, cat. 20. [lent by Mr. & Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb.]
Fifth Loan Exhibition of Old and Modern Masters. Exh. cat., Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1927, p. 41, cat. 76. [lent by Mr. & Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb.]
Heil, W. "The Edgar B. Whitcomb Collection in Detroit." Art in America16 (1928): p. 49.
Heil, W. "MS catalogue." 1931, p. 43.
Richardson, E.P. Catalogue of the Paintings and Sculpture Given by Edgar B. Whitcomb and Anna Scripps Whitcomb to the Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1954, p. 79 (ill.) p. 78.
Réau, L. Fragonard, sa vie et son oeuvre. Brussels, 1956, p. 148.
Wildenstein, G. The Paintings of Fragonard. London, 1960, p. 287, no. 407 (fig. 167).
Wildenstein, D. and G. Mandel. L'opera completa di Fragonard. Milan, 1972, no. 432.
Cuzin, J.-P. Jean-Honoré Fragonard: Life and Work. New York, 1988, p. 304, no. 230.
Rosenberg, P. Tout l'oeuvre peint de Fragonard, Paris, 1989, no. 245. [as Allégorie de la Force.]
Three Masters of French Rococo: Boucher, Fragonard, Lancret. Exh. cat., Odakyu Grand Gallery, Daimaru Museum, Hakodate Museum of Art, Sogo Museum of Art. Tokyo, Umeda-Osaka, Hokkaido, and Yokohama, 1990, no. 41, p. 172 [English version], p. 150 [Japanese version], color pls. p. 41.
Kindly share your feedback or any additional information, as this record is still a work in progress and may need further refinement.
Suggest FeedbackCatalogue Raisoneé
Please note: This section is empty
Credit Line for Reproduction
Jean Honoré Fragonard, The Goddess Minerva, ca. 1772, oil on canvas. Detroit Institute of Arts, Bequest of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb, 53.354.
More by Artist
Related Works
Feedback
We regularly update our object record as new research and findings emerge, and we welcome your feedback for correction or improvement.
Suggest Feedback
