Box Mirror with Head of Athena
Unknown Artist
330–270 BCE
Medium
bronze, partially gilt
Dimensions
diam. 11.3 cm
Classification
Metalwork
Department
Greek and Roman Art
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
Accession Number
1972.66
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
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 ...