id: 101271 accession number: 1920.170 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1920.170 updated: 2022-01-04 14:48:29.916000 Mirror with Engraved Scene: Man Threatening Child (Telephos and Orestes?), c. 330-300 BC. Italy, Etruscan, probably Praenestine, late 4th Century BC. Bronze; overall: 33 cm (13 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. John Huntington 1920.170 title: Mirror with Engraved Scene: Man Threatening Child (Telephos and Orestes?) title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 330-300 BC creation date earliest: -330 creation date latest: -300 current location: 102D Pre-Roman creditline: Gift of Mrs. John Huntington copyright: --- culture: Italy, Etruscan, probably Praenestine, late 4th Century BC technique: bronze department: Greek and Roman Art collection: GR - Etruscan type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 33 cm (13 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Mirrors: Art and Symbol opening date: 1984-07-03T04:00:00 Mirrors: Art and Symbol. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 3, 1994-January 27, 1985). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE --- fun fact: The largely unadorned front side of this mirror would have been highly polished and reflective. digital description: Cast in one piece, this bronze mirror features a handle terminating in a stylized deer head. The front side of the disc, once highly polished and reflective, would have served as a mirror, while the reverse—now on display—features an engraved figural scene. Best observed with the aid of a line drawing, this shows a bearded man holding a small child whom he threatens with his sword. Although it lacks inscriptions and certain expected iconographical features, this scene may represent the wounded warrior Telephos holding the young Orestes hostage as he sought a cure for an unhealing wound. The older woman kneeling at right may be the boy's nursemaid, while the nude young woman restraining the man could represent Lasa, an Etruscan nymph-like guardian figure. wall description: This hand mirror, which originally had an ivory handle, reflected the viewer's image in its once highly polished surface. The back is engraved with a narrative scene, a type of mirror decoration probably invented by the Etruscans. The engraving shows an older man threatening a youth with his sword in the center flanked by two women. A Greek myth is certainly intended, but the identification is debatable. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS "Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 7, no. 7 (1920): 109-10. page number: Mentioned: p. 109 url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25136400 De Puma, Richard Daniel. "A Fourth Century Praenestine Mirror with Telephos and Orestes." Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaeologischen Instituts Roemische Abteilung 87 (1980): 5-28. page number: url: De Puma, Richard Daniel. "Greek Myths on Three Etruscan Mirrors in Cleveland." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 70, no. 7 (1983): 290-302. page number: Discussed pp. 296-301, figs. 17-21. url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159824 De Puma, Richard Daniel. Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum, U.S.A. volume 1: Midwestern Collections. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1987. page number: Pp. 28-29, 112-116 (cat. 14, figs. 14a-e). url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1920.170/1920.170_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1920.170/1920.170_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1920.170/1920.170_full.tif