As to why the sculpture is known as Athena rather than Minerva—the ancient Roman equivalent of the Olympian—Manchester tells The Art Newspaper that it was, in fact, originally called Minerva.

as the ring depicted Minerva, Rome’s equivalent of the Greek goddess Athena. “On this beautiful ring, preserved in its entirety, is the image of a helmeted naked figure. In one hand she holds ...

The statue of Athena had been housed in William ... British travelers would have referred to the statue’s subject as Minerva, the Roman goddess, rather than Athena, “because they learned ...

Until Minerva was decapitated by a backhoe ... Schwab said the statue was believed to be an 1860s copy of the Athena Giustiniani, itself a Roman replica of a Greek bronze sculpture.