Etruscan Mirror with Herakles, Dionysos, Ariadne, and Eros in the Walters Art Museum, September 2009

Mirror with Heracles, Dionysus, Ariadne, and Eros


Creators: Etruscan (Artist)

Period: ca. 300 BC

Medium: bronze (Metal)

Accession Number: 54.85

Measurements: 9 1/4 x 7 5/8 x 1/4 in. (23.5 x 19.3 x 0.7 cm)

Geographies: Castel Giorgio, Italy (Place of Origin)

In order to create a reflective surface, the front of ancient mirrors were either highly polished or covered with a thin layer of silver. Engraved on the back of this mirror is a scene from the Greek myth of the marriage of Dionysus. The figures are identified by engraved inscriptions with the Etruscan names for Heracles (Herkle), Ariadne (Vesuna), Dionysus (Fufluns), and Eros (Svutaf?).

Text from: art.thewalters.org/detail/23538/mirror-with-heracles-dion...