Box Mirror with Head of Athena
330–270 BC
Maker Unknown
Greek and Roman Art
Box Mirror with Head of Athena, 330–270 BC. Greece, Hellenistic period. Bronze, partially gilt; diameter: 11.3 cm (4 7/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.66 The ancient Greek box mirror resembles a modern, hinged makeup compact in design. While the actual mirror is the top of the bottom half of the box – a highly polished cast-bronze disk – the cover often bears relief decoration. This example features a helmeted head of Athena, a virgin war goddess not typically associated with implements of beauty. Several other aspects suggest that this Athena may have been repurposed from another object in antiquity: the striking difference in patina between relief and case; the irregular (non-circular) shape; and the method of attachment, with rivets through the relief rather than solder. Athena, the virgin goddess of war and craft, rarely appears on mirrors.
- Maker/Artist
- Maker Unknown
- Classification
- Metalwork
- Formatted Medium
- bronze, partially gilt
- Dimensions
- Diameter: 11.3 cm (4 7/16 in.)
- Departments
- Greek and Roman Art
- Accession Number
- 1972.66
- Credit Line
- Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund
- Exhibitions
- Year in Review: 1972, Mirrors: Art and Symbol
- Rights Statement
- CC0
- Museum Location
- 102B Greek
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