Why it matters
A woman holding an elaborate halberd grips the hair of a centaur who was about to shoot his bow. Centaurs stood for uncontrolled passion, so the painting is at least partly about passion submitting to reason or chastity.
Did you know?
- It was painted around 1482.
- An inventory of 1499 calls the woman Camilla; one of 1516 calls her Minerva.
- Her dress is decorated with the Medici's three-ring insignia.
- It has been proposed as a companion piece to Primavera.
Based on the Wikipedia article Pallas and the Centaur (CC BY-SA 4.0).
