Pallas Athena - hommage to Rembrandt. Pallas Athena - greek goddess of the intellect, the kings and the heroes. Athena was daugther of Zeus and titan Metis. According to a prophecy, Metis would give birth to a goddess who was as wise as Zeus, so he devoured his wife in an attempt to stop her from giving birth. Zeus one day got a headache and asked the smith God Hephaistos to open his head with an axe. He did, and Athena stepped out of her fathers head, already grown-up and armed. Athena began to compete with her father in wisdom. She is symbolized by the owl, believed to be the wisest of all birds. Sometimes it is a falcon on her helmet. The snake on her shield, may be the head of Medusa. I find great comfort in paintings by Rembrandt. I studied his technique and tried to find my own style by using an already existing composition for a portrait. It has been titled "Young boy" and sometimes "Pallas Athena". However, it seems to have turned into a romantic self-portrait or diary entry, seen in perspective.