The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 16, 2024

Box Mirror with Head of Athena

Box Mirror with Head of Athena

330–270 BCE
bronze, partially gilt
Diameter: 11.3 cm (4 7/16 in.)
Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1972.66
Location: 102B Greek

Did You Know?

Athena, the virgin goddess of war and craft, rarely appears on mirrors.

Description

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 (noncircular) shape; and the method of attachment, with rivets through the relief rather than solder.
  • Cooney, John D. “Deluxe Toilet Objects.” The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 60, no. 7 (1973): 215–21. www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 25 archive.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 9 archive.org
    Schwarzmeier, Agnes. "A Greek Box Mirror in the Cleveland Museum of Art." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 80, no. 9 (1993): 354-67. Reproduced: cover, p. 354, 356; Mentioned: p. 354-67 25161429
    Schwarzmaier, Agnes. 1997. Griechische Klappspiegel : Untersuchungen Zu Typologie Und Stil. Mitteilungen Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung, 18. Beiheft. Berlin: Mann. P. 270, Kat. 89, Taf. 68.1.
  • Mirrors: Art and Symbol. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 3-November 18, 1984).
    Year in Review: 1972. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 27-March 18, 1973).
  • {{cite web|title=Box Mirror with Head of Athena|url=false|author=|year=330–270 BCE|access-date=16 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1972.66