Golden Roman hand mirror
We usually identify nude depictions of female figures in ancient Greece or Rome as images of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and sexuality. This mirror, however, is a rare exception that may instead show Artemis, the chaste goddess of the hunt.
Artemis' cloak is draped over the rocks on which she sits - ready to cover herself quickly after a dip - 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 Naples before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. 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 on the ledge at the right. The bovine skull in the right foreground suggests the sacrifice after a successful hunt. The scene likely represents a famous encounter in which the hero Actacon stumbled across Artemis while she was bathing. The modest and vengeful goddess punished him by turning him into a deer so he would be killed by his own hounds.
Roman, 101-200 CE.
Note: The museum's info card conflicts with its online listing. This repoussé side of the mirror is listed in the museum as gold, while on their website it's listed as brass. I've sent a note to their curators for confirmation of one or the other.
Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC 1985.1042a-b)
Golden Roman hand mirror
We usually identify nude depictions of female figures in ancient Greece or Rome as images of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and sexuality. This mirror, however, is a rare exception that may instead show Artemis, the chaste goddess of the hunt.
Artemis' cloak is draped over the rocks on which she sits - ready to cover herself quickly after a dip - 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 Naples before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. 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 on the ledge at the right. The bovine skull in the right foreground suggests the sacrifice after a successful hunt. The scene likely represents a famous encounter in which the hero Actacon stumbled across Artemis while she was bathing. The modest and vengeful goddess punished him by turning him into a deer so he would be killed by his own hounds.
Roman, 101-200 CE.
Note: The museum's info card conflicts with its online listing. This repoussé side of the mirror is listed in the museum as gold, while on their website it's listed as brass. I've sent a note to their curators for confirmation of one or the other.
Art Institute of Chicago (ARTIC 1985.1042a-b)