VERONESE (PAOLO CALIARI)
MINERVA
One of a pair of canvases – with Diana in the collection of the Hermitage. At the beginning of the 18th century both canvases – Minerva and Diana – would seem to have been in the house of Doctor Curtoni in Verona where, among other works by Veronese, one of his contemporaries referred to "Pallada and Diana – small in size". For a long time these works were regarded as preliminary sketches, however they had probably been painted in accordance with the tastes of private collectors.
Provenance: until the beginning of the 18th century it would appear to have been in the collection of Doctor Curtoni in Verona; from there it passed into the collection of the Duke of Mirandola; acquired for the Hermitage from the Croz collection in Paris in 1772; in the Pushkin Museum since 1930.
