id: 133695 accession number: 1956.31 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1956.31 updated: 2023-03-09 12:48:03.740000 Mirror with a Handle in the Form of a Herakles Knot, c. AD 280–400. Byzantium, Syria?, early Byzantine period, 3rd-4th Century. Silver; diameter: 2.3 x 34.6 cm (7/8 x 13 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1956.31 title: Mirror with a Handle in the Form of a Herakles Knot title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. AD 280–400 creation date earliest: 280 creation date latest: 400 current location: 104 Late Antiquity creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: Byzantium, Syria?, early Byzantine period, 3rd-4th Century technique: silver department: Medieval Art collection: MED - Byzantine type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Diameter: 2.3 x 34.6 cm (7/8 x 13 5/8 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE reportedly found on the coast of Syria south of Latakia, from a treasure of eleven pieces. (Milton Girod, Sarthe, France). date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: This type of mirror was introduced throughout the Roman Empire by the 2nd century and remained popular into the 3rd and 4th centuries. Similar examples have been found in Germany and Britain. The handle is made of two thick pieces of silver wire, intertwined to form a Herakles knot--a knot so complex that only someone as strong as Herakles could break it. In antiquity, knots of various kinds were believed to provide protection from harm. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 47 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n23 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.31/1956.31_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.31/1956.31_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1956.31/1956.31_full.tif