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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.

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Page
1
Source index
0
Type
photo
Media ID
57e22c884f6da792
Size
unknown

Document data

ID
147041
Core
obj
Type
object
DTO data
{
    "id": "147041",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Box Mirror with Head of Athena",
    "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.",
    "date": "330–270 BCE",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.66",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60779409"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Metalwork"
    ],
    "iiifBase": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_web.jpg",
    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Diameter: 11.3 cm (4 7/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Greece, Hellenistic period"
    ],
    "accession": "1972.66"
}

Context sent to Scholar

Document identity
{
    "localId": "147041",
    "label": "Box Mirror with Head of Athena",
    "core": "obj",
    "dtoType": "object"
}
Document source metadata
{
    "id": "147041",
    "contentType": "object",
    "title": "Box Mirror with Head of Athena",
    "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.",
    "date": "330–270 BCE",
    "citation": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.66",
    "rights": "CC0",
    "rightsUri": "CC0",
    "language": "en",
    "wikidata": [
        "Q60779409"
    ],
    "genreSpecific": [
        "Metalwork"
    ],
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    "thumbnailUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_web.jpg",
    "largeImageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_web.jpg",
    "imageCount": 1,
    "source": "import",
    "dimensionsRaw": "Diameter: 11.3 cm (4 7/16 in.)",
    "cul": [
        "Greece, Hellenistic period"
    ],
    "accession": "1972.66"
}
Document source extras
{
    "tec": "bronze, partially gilt",
    "tombstone": "Box Mirror with Head of Athena, 330–270 BCE. 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",
    "collection": "GR - Greek",
    "didYouKnow": "Athena, the virgin goddess of war and craft, rarely appears on mirrors.",
    "citations": [
        {
            "citation": "Cooney, John D. “Deluxe Toilet Objects.” <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 60, no. 7 (1973): 215–21.",
            "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152486"
        },
        {
            "citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 25",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n45"
        },
        {
            "citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 9",
            "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n24"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Schwarzmeier, Agnes. \"A Greek Box Mirror in the Cleveland Museum of Art.\" <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 80, no. 9 (1993): 354-67.",
            "page_number": "Reproduced: cover, p. 354, 356; Mentioned: p. 354-67",
            "url": "www.jstor.org/stable/25161429"
        },
        {
            "citation": "Schwarzmaier, Agnes. 1997. <em>Griechische Klappspiegel : Untersuchungen Zu Typologie Und Stil. Mitteilungen Des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung,</em> 18. Beiheft. Berlin: Mann.",
            "page_number": "P. 270, Kat. 89, Taf. 68.1."
        }
    ],
    "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1972.66",
    "creditline": "Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund",
    "sketchfabId": "e543b1b4f50f446e9aa3049f5ddb7fbb",
    "sketchfabUrl": "https://sketchfab.com/models/e543b1b4f50f446e9aa3049f5ddb7fbb",
    "updatedAt": "2026-06-18 21:17:58.664000",
    "imageUrl": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_print.jpg",
    "sourceId": 147041,
    "dept": "Greek and Roman Art",
    "coll": "GR - Greek",
    "med": "bronze, partially gilt",
    "thumbnail_url": null,
    "image_url": null
}
Page context
{
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    "type": "photo",
    "url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1972.66/1972.66_web.jpg",
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