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Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a nude girl

2nd half of the 6th century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 152
The girl stands on a curled-up lion, and griffins springing from her shoulders help support the mirror disk. She holds a pomegranate in her left hand and is nude except for a necklace and a strap from which hang a crescent-shaped amulet and a ring. Her nudity and the animals that surround her bring to mind images of the Mistress of Animals, an ancient Near Eastern deity who contributed characteristics to two Olympian goddesses, Aphrodite and Artemis. As a mirror handle, the figure may simply evoke the powers of Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty; alternatively, she might be connected with Artemis Orthia, whose cult was important at the Laconian city of Sparta.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a nude girl
  • Period: Archaic
  • Date: 2nd half of the 6th century BCE
  • Culture: Greek, Laconian
  • Medium: Bronze
  • Dimensions: 13 5/16 × 6 11/16 × 1 11/16 in. (33.8 × 17 × 4.3 cm)
  • Classification: Bronzes
  • Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1938
  • Object Number: 38.11.3
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a draped woman, Bronze, Greek, Argive
Bronze mirror with a support in the form of a draped woman
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mid-5th century BCE
Bronze statuette of a young woman, Bronze, Etruscan
Bronze statuette of a young woman
Etruscan
late 6th century BCE
Bronze statuette of a standing male figure, Bronze, Campanian or South Italian Greek
Bronze statuette of a standing male figure
Campanian or South Italian Greek
ca. 500–450 BCE
Bronze mirror support in the form of a man, Bronze, Greek, South Italian
Bronze mirror support in the form of a man
Greek, South Italian
early 5th century BCE
Bronze mirror support in the form of a nude girl, Bronze, Greek, Laconian
Bronze mirror support in the form of a nude girl
Greek, Laconian
ca. 540–530 BCE

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