Detail View: The AMICA Library: Hand Mirror
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AMICA ID:
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AIC_.1985.1042
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AMICA Library Year:
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1998
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Object Type:
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Decorative Arts and Utilitarian Objects
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Creator Nationality:
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European; Southern European; Roman
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Creator Dates/Places:
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Roman Republic and Empire
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Creator Name-CRT:
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Roman
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Title:
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Hand Mirror
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Title Type:
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preferred
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View:
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front view
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Creation Date:
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Imperial Period, 2nd century A.D.
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Creation Start Date:
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100
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Creation End Date:
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200
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Materials and Techniques:
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Gilded bronze
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Classification Term:
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Metalwork
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Subject Description:
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Artemis (the Roman Diana), or a Roman lady with divine fantasies, after her bath in a rustic, woodland setting, is the subject of the tondo in relief on the back of this Roman hand mirror. Her cloak is draped over the rocks on which she sits, and she holds the end wrapped around a small hand mirror in her raised left hand, a divine celebration of the uses of the mirror in a Roman household. The landscape in front of her, to the right, recalls the paintings and reliefs from houses around the Bay of Naplesbefore the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. The quiver of the goddess leans against the base of a garlanded altar with a small herm on top. A second terminal figure, Priapis, the god of gardens and fertility, tilts back while facing to the right onthe ledge at the right. The bovine skull in the right foreground suggests the sacrifice after a successful hunt.
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Creation Place:
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Early Western World,Roman Republic and Empire
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Dimensions:
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Diam.: 11.8 cm (4-11/16 in.)
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AMICA Contributor:
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The Art Institute of Chicago
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Owner Location:
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Chicago, Illinois, USA
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ID Number:
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1985.1042
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Credit Line:
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The Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mr. & Mrs. James W. Alsdorf
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Rights:
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Related Image Identifier Link:
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AIC_.E10082.TIF
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