California State Capital
Senate Chambers
According to ancient Roman myth, the goddess Minerva was born fully grown. Just as Minerva was born fully grown, so California became a state without first having been a territory. Minerva’s image on the Great Seal symbolizes California’s direct rise to statehood.
Minerva originally was in both chambers but sits only in the Senate today. Michael H. Casey sculpted the new minerva that resides in the present Senate Chamber.
Minerva is actually cast in plaster with a bronze paint finish. Michael H. Casey was the Artist-in-Residence for the California State Capitol Project at the time that he sculpted Minerva. The General Contractor on the project was Continental Heller and one of the partners of the firm was Cecil J. Mark, who, ten years later, would become Michael’s father-in-law.
The unattributed photos are from the book California State Capitol Restoration, A Pictoral History, by Lynn G. Marlowe.