The plaster replica of the Athena Giustiniani statue was a gift from the SHNI class of 1912. The 8-foot tall statue – of Athena holding a spear and attended by a serpent – is a copy of an original marble artwork that stands in the Vatican.
Originally erected in an alcove of the Main Building auditorium in 1922, Athena was later moved into a reading room within the Estill Library. Years later, and after suffering a few injuries, the statue moved into an art studio on the library’s third floor where, eventually, it was put into storage and forgotten. It was rediscovered during the 1996-97 restoration of the Estill Building.
Following restoration in 1997, Athena moved to the reading room of the Peabody Library. It remained there until it the Peabody archives moved to the Gresham Library, whereupon the statue was returned to the art department and today resides just inside the north entrance of Art Building E.
