© Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Engraved Mirror

Place CreatedItaly, Europe

CultureEtruscan

PeriodClassical

Dateearly 4th Century BCE

MediumBronze

Credit LineGift of the Georges Ricard Foundation

Dimensions9 1/16 x 6 1/8 in., 3/16 in., 201 g (23 x 15.5 cm, 0.4 cm, 7 1/16 oz.)

Object number2018.010.625

Label TextCircular hand mirrors engraved on the reverse with figurative scenes are a characteristic product of the Etruscans, and in fact constitute the largest known body of Etruscan art extant today. Produced from the sixth to first centuries BC, these mirrors performed an integral role in the daily life of elites – both men and women – for whom beauty and the cultivation of one’s appearance was a marker of status and wealth. Since most mirrors were buried in tombs, this symbolic function seems also to have continued in the afterlife. It is no surprise, therefore, that many mirrors depict scenes of adornment and seduction, drawn for the most part from Greek mythology. But other, less straightforwardly appropriate subjects were popular too. On this example, gifted by the Georges Ricard Foundation, a nude male viewed from behind stands next to another male wearing a chiton, cloak, sandals and what is likely a helmet. Contained within a border of ivy tendrils, the figures may represent either Odysseus or Diomedes trying to persuade Philoctetes – in exile on Lemnos – to join the Greeks in the Trojan War. An amphora to the right of Philoctetes preempts the glory he will eventually win on the battlefield; amphorae were commonly given as prizes in athletic contests. Although his representation is not common in Etruria, Philoctetes appears on gems, cinerary urns and a number of mirrors, and seems to have reiterated the relationship between ideals of manliness, community, and martial prowess.
Published ReferencesHotel des Ventes, Lille, Rare Ensemble d'Objets de Fouilles et d'Archeologie (29 Mai 1972), lot 43.

ProvenancePurchased by Georges Ricard (1921-2012) from Hotel des Ventes, Lille, France, May 29, 1972, lot 43. Ex coll. Musée de l'Égypte et le Monde Antique, Collection Sanousrit, Monaco, 1975-1982. Ex coll. Georges Ricard Foundation, Santa Barbara, California.

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