Bronze Mirror with a Support in the Form of a Draped Woman in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2010

Bronze Mirror with a Support in the Form of a Draped Woman
Greek, Argive, mid-5th century BC

Acccession # 1972.118.78

The integration of three-dimensional figures into the design of functional objects is a hallmark of Greek art. A variety of elements- human, animal, and mythological- are combined to animate this mirror disk. A statuette of a woman standing on a base supports the mirror. Her simple woolen peplos falls in columnar folds. Her serious expression and quiet stance are typical of the restrained early classical statues that were created from about 480 to 450 BC. Two winged erotes hover above her head. A hound chases a hare up either side of the disk; a siren: part bird and part woman, perches on the top.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.