Pallas (Minerva) and Centaur by Sandro Botticelli Ceramic Ornament

Pallas (Minerva) and the Centaur (c. 1482) by Sandro Botticelli is a vintage Renaissance Era fine art mythological painting. There is a centaur on the left, and a female figure holding a very elaborate halberd on the right. Pallas Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavor. She is the virgin patron of Athens. The Athenians built the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honor (Athena Parthenos). In Greek mythology a centaur is a creature that is half human and half horse. About the artist: Sandro Botticelli (1445–1510) was an Italian painter of the Florentine school during the Early Renaissance.