{{Short description|Painting by Jacques-Louis David}} {{italic title}}
{{Infobox Painting | title = Minerva Fighting Mars | image_file = The Combat of Ares and Athena.jpg | image_size = | alt = | other_language_1 = | other_title_1 = | artist = Jacques-Louis David | year = 1771 | medium = Oil on canvas | height_metric = 114 | width_metric = 140 | museum = Musée du Louvre | city = Paris }} '''''Minerva Fighting Mars''''' (''Combat de Mars contre Minerve'') is an oil-on-canvas painting created in 1771 by the French artist Jacques-Louis David and now in the Louvre.
==History== David produced the painting to compete for the Prix de Rome of 1771. For the competition, he and the seven other participating artists were assigned the task of painting a new work in 10 weeks on a set subject, which that year was the ''Iliad''. David's painting was awarded the second prize as the Prix de Rome was given to Joseph-Benoît Suvée.<ref name="Lee"/> David believed that harsh criticism of his work by his teacher Joseph-Marie Vien had caused the prize to be awarded to an inferior painter, and became disgruntled with the academy, which he considered to be a dishonest institution.<ref>{{Cite book |first=Keith |last=Michel |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/841914986 |title=War, Terror and Carriage by Sea. |date=2013 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=978-1-135-13378-8 |oclc=841914986}}</ref> In 1774, David finally won the competition on his fourth attempt with ''Erasistratus Discovering the Cause of Antiochus' Disease''.<ref name="Lee">Lee, S. "David, Jacques-Louis". Grove Art Online.</ref>
==See also== * List of paintings by Jacques-Louis David
==References== {{reflist}}
==Bibliography== *Régis Michel and Marie-Catherine Sahut, ''David, l'art et le politique'', Paris, Gallimard, coll. « Découvertes Gallimard » (n° 46), 1988 ({{ISBN|2-07-053068-X}})
==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=11115 Cartelfr.louvre.fr] *[http://www.artliste.com/jacques-louis-david/combat-minerve-contre-mars-620.html Artliste.com]
{{Jacques-Louis David}} {{Louvre Museum}} {{Authority control (arts)}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minerva Fighting Mars}} Category:Mythological paintings by Jacques-Louis David Category:1771 paintings Category:Angels in art Category:Paintings in the Louvre by French artists Category:Paintings of Minerva Category:Paintings of Mars (mythology)
{{1770s-painting-stub}} Category:Paintings by Jacques-Louis David