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Source 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 (non-circular) shape; and the method of attachment, with rivets through the relief rather than solder.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
147042
label
Box Mirror with Head of Athena (lid)
core
obj
dtoType
object
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
147042
contentType
object
title
Box Mirror with Head of Athena (lid)
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 (non-circular) shape; and the method of attachment, with rivets through the relief rather than solder.
date
330–270 BCE
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q60741843
genreSpecific
Metalwork
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Diameter: 11.3 cm (4 7/16 in.)
cul
Greece, Hellenistic period
accession
1972.66.a
Source extras
tec
bronze, partially gilt
tombstone
Box Mirror with Head of Athena (lid), 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.a
collection
GR - Greek
didYouKnow
The head of Athena on this mirror likely came from a different ancient object.
citations
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
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
creditline
Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund
sketchfabId
a01ee7dca3134d269ecee7feb24b6818
updatedAt
2026-06-18 21:17:57.925000
sourceId
147042
dept
Greek and Roman Art
coll
GR - Greek
med
bronze, partially gilt
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
b806d2d17f239032