Minerva in a Chariot

Abbott Handerson Thayer, Minerva in a Chariot, ca. 1894, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.121
Copied Abbott Handerson Thayer, Minerva in a Chariot, ca. 1894, oil on canvas, 38 1⁄8 x 53 3⁄4 in. (96.7 x 136.4 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly, 1929.6.121
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Artwork Details

Title
Minerva in a Chariot
Artist
Date
ca. 1894
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
38 1⁄8 x 53 3⁄4 in. (96.7 x 136.4 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of John Gellatly
Mediums
Mediums Description
oil on canvas
Classifications
Subjects
  • Dress — historic — classical dress
  • Animal — horse
  • Travel — land — chariot
  • Mythology — classical — Minerva
  • Figure female — full length
Object Number
1929.6.121
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1929.6.121

Artwork Description

In 1894, Abbott Thayer won a commission to create a large mosaic panel of the goddess Minerva for the Library of Congress, and he painted this oil sketch before executing the final version in glass. He was to receive $4000 for the completed project, but engineers and architects at the library quickly grew frustrated with Thayer’s unwillingness to comply with their instructions. After years of argument, the commission was given to another prominent muralist, Elihu Vedder. His Minerva now presides over the landing of what was once the library’s main staircase. (Cartwright, “Reading Rooms: Interpreting the American Public Library Mural, 1890-1930,” PhD diss., Univ. Michigan, 1994)