This woodblock-printed silk velvet depicts Athena (known as Minerva to the Romans). She is the Greek goddess of reason, wisdom and military strategy, and of artisans, among others.
This mythological figure is surrounded by almost all her traditional symbols: the olive branch (symbol of wisdom) that she holds in her left hand, the aegis on her shoulders, decorated with the head of the Gorgon Medusa, the spear and helmet (militaria), and the shield decorated with the apotropaic Gorgoneion (Gorgon head). Only the little owl, symbol of wisdom, is missing from this portrait.