Margarita Trip as Minerva, Instructing her Sister Anna Maria Trip

Ferdinand Bol's portrait of Margarita Trip as Minerva from 1663, in the Rijksmuseum, depicts a member of one of Amsterdam's wealthiest merchant families in the guise of the goddess of wisdom. This type of mythological portrait, in which wealthy Dutch women posed as classical goddesses, was popular among the Amsterdam elite as a way of associating themselves with classical virtues. Bol, as Rembrandt's most commercially successful pupil, specialized in these flattering portrait-historié works that combined portraiture with mythological narrative.

Bol renders the elaborate costume and classical attributes with the polished technique he developed after moving away from Rembrandt's rougher late manner. The smooth finish, warm coloring, and elegant composition reflect the classicizing taste of Amsterdam's wealthy patron class.