Mirror with a Handle in the Form of a Female Figure
3rd century BCE
Medium
Bronze
Dimensions
33.7 × 17.3 × 3.2 cm (13 1/4 × 6 3/4 × 1 1/4 in.)
Classification
decorative arts
Department
Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
213732
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
In Etruria, bronze mirrors were luxury objects designed primarily for women, who were buried with them for use in the afterlife. The front of the bronze disk would have been highly polished in order to reflect the viewer’s image. This example has a handle in the form of a winged Lasa, a minor deity associated with Turan, the Etruscan goddess of love. Lasa holds an alabastron (container for scented oil) in her left hand. Because Lasa is thought to have been associated with funerary rites, the ala...