Minerva Giustiniani or Athena Giustiniani

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A A Local Fine Dining Restaurant Named "Minerva'S" Stands This 100+ Year Old Plaster Copy Of It'S Namesake. I Remembered Her From Years Ago And Received Permission From The Management To Photograph And Model Her. As I Photographed Minerva, I Discovered The Obscured Name Of The Plaster Company That Had Made Her: Hennecke Statuary Of Milwaukee, Wi. After A Brief Search Via Google, I Found An Online Copy Of One Of Their Catalogs And Included The Price Page For This Particular Cast. This Particular Plaster Cast Has Been Slightly Damaged Over The Course Of Her Lifetime, But The Damage To Her Right Hand And The Sphinx On The Crest Of Her Helmet Don'T Detract From Her Beauty. To The Contrary, It Just Adds A Little More Character. She Is A Rather Dusty, Wine Stained Plaster Cast, But The Darkening Ochre Only Enhances The Play Of Light And Shadow. My Big Problem In Photographing Minerva Was The Low Lighting. As Is Common For Restaurants With Mood Lighting, Everything Is Dimly Lit And Indirect. Thankfully, I Was Able To Use A Tripod, But She Was So Heavy That I Gently Moved Her From Her Stairwell Perch Behind A Number Of Large, Expensive Wines To The Nearest Table With Any Decent Lighting. While The Front Of The Goddess Generally Looks Good, The Rear Of Her Is Much Less So, And I Hadn'T Counted On Needing Almost Two Hours Of Photography To Get Nearly 90% Of Minerva Before Running Out Of Battery Power And Time As The Restaurant Was Preparing For The Friday Evening Customers Leaving Work. There Are Holes Here And There In The Statue. They Are Mostly In The Undercuts Of The Togo And Around The Top And Underside Of The Left Arm. I'M Going To Make Another Attempt At Photographing Minerva Again And Hopefully Be Able To Create A Better Model. For More Information About The Original Sculpture, See The Wikipedia Entry Here: Http://En.Wikipedia.Org/Wiki/Athena_Giustiniani

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