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Mirror with Athena (left) and Ajax about to commit suicide
Italic, Etruscan
Classical Period
380–360 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Diameter: 15.2 cm (6 in.)
Credit Line
Henry Lillie Pierce Fund
Accession Number99.494
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsTools and equipment – Cosmetic and medical
Catalogue Raisonné
Greek, Etruscan, & Roman Bronzes (MFA), no. 381; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 123 (additional published references).
DescriptionEngraved and inscribed tang mirror
On the reverse of the mirror is a border of leaf clusters, possibly olive or laurel. On the medallion is Minerva (Athena). She wears a crested helmet, aegis and peplos, and is standing with spear vertically in her left hand. She gestures to the other figure. At the right, is a partly nude, bearded man identified by the inscription as Telamonian Ajax. He kneels in cloak and scabbard and is about to plunge a sword into his stomach.
Lyre-form volutes below.
Patina green and lustrous.
On the reverse of the mirror is a border of leaf clusters, possibly olive or laurel. On the medallion is Minerva (Athena). She wears a crested helmet, aegis and peplos, and is standing with spear vertically in her left hand. She gestures to the other figure. At the right, is a partly nude, bearded man identified by the inscription as Telamonian Ajax. He kneels in cloak and scabbard and is about to plunge a sword into his stomach.
Lyre-form volutes below.
Patina green and lustrous.
InscriptionsInscriptions identify Minerva and Telamonian Ajax
ProvenanceBy 1897: with E. P. Warren (according to Warren's records: Bought in Rome.1897 apparently); purchased by MFA from E. P. Warren, 1899, for $ 32,500.00 (this is the total price for MFA 99.338-99.542)