The Roman Goddess of knowledge, wisdom, strategic warfare, justice, law, trade, and the arts, Minerva was born fully formed from her fathers head. Based on the Greek Goddess Athena, she was part of the Capitoline Triad of Roman gods, Jupiter the father, Juno the mother, Minerva the child. 

This arrangement of two goddesses and one god is unusual, as more often than not the child was a boy, not a girl. Osiris, Isis, and Horus in Egypt. El, Asherah, and Baal in Canaan. Father God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus in Christianity. 

One of the main things Jesus and Minerva have in common is that they were both conceived without sex. 

Western artists and allegorists have long used Athena/Minerva, as a symbol of freedom and democracy. The owl that accompanies her is a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, and the ability to see in the dark. In the featured mosaic, Minerva has laid down her shield and is unfolding a scroll with all the different subjects that fall under her domain as the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. 

As opposed to the violence and destruction that accompanied the god Mars during times of war, Minerva was more of a strategic warrior, using intelligence instead of brute force to outwit her enemies. 

Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress. Elihu Vedder mosaic 1897 – Minerva of Peace, guardian of civilization.