# Allegorical Figure

- By: Bernardo Strozzi (Italian, 1581?-1644)
- Date: c. 1636
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Classification: Painting
- Dimensions: Framed: 178.5 x 133.5 x 12 cm (70 1/4 x 52 9/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 145.8 x 99.8 cm (57 3/8 x 39 5/16 in.)
- Culture: Italy
- Credit line: Gift of the Friends of The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Museum: [Cleveland Museum of Art](https://clevelandart.org/art/1929.133)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://invisiblenetwork.ai/thumbs/cma/1929.133/1929.133_web.jpg
- Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

During the 1630s, the Genoese artist Bernardo Strozzi painted a number of female figures representing various intellectual and artistic pursuits, reflecting the appeal of such allegories among learned patrons in northern Italy. Recent scholarship has convincingly identified the subject of this painting as Minerva. The Roman goddess of war has put aside her armor for more contemplative pursuits; her upward gaze—as if seeking inspiration—recalls her other associations with wisdom, eloquence, and the arts.