Combats and Triumphs: Minerva or Victorious Virtue

Engraving, part of a set of 12 prints of rectangular shape, executed over black backgrounds, and depicting combats and triumphs, likely influenced by the combat scenes created by German masters such as Georg Pencz and the Beham brothers. This print represents Minerva, in the center, wearing her hat and a draping, classicized robe, sitting on trophies made up of a variety of arms, and holding a spear on his right hand. Her shield, ornated with the head of Medusa, lies at her feet, on her left, while an owl and a branch rest on her right. This print is likely an allegory of victorious wisdom: victory symbolized by the eagle that brings a laurel wreath to the female figure in the center of the plate, and by the presence of a second laurel wreath hanging on the arms standing to her right. The laurel wreath is an attribute for winners and victors, or of Victorious Virtue. To the sides of this victorious virtue, incarnated by Minerva, are prisoners, tied to the arms, possibly symbolizing the vices over which virtue has triumphed. The serene representation of Minerva in the print, contrasting with other representations of her, relating her to war, by Delaune, highlights her majesty and her virtue.