The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Mirror with Engraved Scene: Man Threatening Child (Telephos and Orestes?)

c. 330–300 BCE

Italy, Etruscan, probably Praenestine

bronze
Overall: 33 cm (13 in.)
Gift of Mrs. John Huntington 1920.170
Location: 102D Pre-Roman

Did You Know?

The largely unadorned front side of this mirror would have been highly polished and reflective.

Description

Cast in one piece, this bronze mirror features a handle terminating in a stylized deer head. The front side of the disc, once highly polished and reflective, would have served as a mirror, while the reverse—now on display—features an engraved figural scene. Best observed with the aid of a line drawing, this shows a bearded man holding a small child whom he threatens with his sword. Although it lacks inscriptions and certain expected iconographical features, this scene may represent the wounded warrior Telephos holding the young Orestes hostage as he sought a cure for an unhealing wound. The older woman kneeling at right may be the boy's nursemaid, while the nude young woman restraining the man could represent Lasa, an Etruscan nymph-like guardian figure.
  • "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 7, no. 7 (1920): 109-10. Mentioned: p. 109 www.jstor.org
    De Puma, Richard Daniel. "A Fourth Century Praenestine Mirror with Telephos and Orestes." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts Roemische Abteilung 87 (1980): 5-28.
    De Puma, Richard Daniel. "Greek Myths on Three Etruscan Mirrors in Cleveland." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 7 (1983): 290-302. Discussed pp. 296-301, figs. 17-21. www.jstor.org
    De Puma, Richard Daniel. Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum, U.S.A. volume 1: Midwestern Collections. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1987. Pp. 28-29, 112-116 (cat. 14, figs. 14a-e).
  • Mirrors: Art and Symbol. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 3-November 18, 1984).
  • {{cite web|title=Mirror with Engraved Scene: Man Threatening Child (Telephos and Orestes?)|url=false|author=|year=c. 330–300 BCE|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1920.170