Margarita Trip as Minerva, Instructing her Sister Anna Maria Trip  1663

In 1662 the fabulously wealthy Trip family moved into the stateliest private residence in all of Amsterdam. Hanging above a mantelpiece in one of the private rooms was this portrait of two of the Trip daughters: Margarita, wearing a helmet and a breastplate, represents Minerva (goddess of art and science), and the eager student kneeling by her side is her eleven-yearold [b...