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The World of the Etruscan Mirror

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 December 2013

J. D. Beazley
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Extract

The drawings we shall be looking at are those engraved on the backs of bronze hand-mirrors. The shape of the mirror is circular. The handle is sometimes made in one piece with the disc; but sometimes, especially in the earlier period, it was made separately of wood and bone, and joined to the disc by means of a tang. At a guess there may be fifteen hundred such mirrors. The quality of the drawing varies from good to bad. The range of subject is wide. There are, first, scenes from everyday life, especially, as is natural, toilet-scenes and courting-scenes; and secondly, scenes in which the lovers are not ordinary mortals, but divinities or heroes and heroines. Among these it is not surprising that two couples are especially popular: Aphrodite, and Adonis; Helen, and Paris or Menelaos. But there are also a very great number of heroic scenes that have no connection with toilet or courting. Sometimes one can see why a particular subject is chosen to decorate a mirror: the interest in Helen extends to the egg from which she was born. If Tyro is a favourite, one might perhaps guess that it is for the sake of the perfect complexion which gave her her name: but nearly always the subject chosen testifies only to the boundless love of the Etruscans for Greek heroic legend and Greek heroic characters, a love which women shared with men. Some legends are represented with more circumstance on Etruscan mirrors than in any extant Greek monument; of others there is no Greek representation, only an echo in a late writer; to others an Etruscan mirror is the only witness. Etruscan ladies could read: the personages are very often named; and these hundreds of inscriptions not only enable us to identify the persons and increase our knowledge of the myths, but are an invaluable aid to the study of the Etruscan language. The names of Greek heroes, heroines, and minor deities appear in Etruscanized versions, from which much may be learned about the character of the Etruscan tongue.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 69 , November 1949 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1949

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References

1 Fiesel, Namen des griechischen Mythos im etruskischen (1928)Google Scholar.

1(bis) Gerhard's part will be quoted as ‘Gerhard,’ the ‘supplement’ by Klügmann and Gustav Körte as ‘KK.’ Other abbreviations: Ducati [Storia dell' arte elrusca] Giglioli [L'arte etrusca]; EVP. for Beazley Etruscan Vase-painting.

2 This was written before the more comprehensive study by Mansuelli, reached us (SE XIX 9–137Google Scholar), which I have consulted with profit. See also his previous articles in SE XVI 531–51 and XVII 487–521.

2(bis) There is some information about the following mirrors.

Boston, from Chiusi: KK. pl. 144 and pp. 189–90. Florence, from Chiusi: KK. pl. 138, 1 and pp. 181–3. Florence, from Populonia: Milani, Mon. scelti 15Google Scholar: a crude, old-fashioned mirror found in the ‘Meidias Tomb.’ Boston, from Corchiano: KK. pl. 160. Villa Giulia, from Todi: MA XXIII (Bendinelli) pl. 3 and pp. 621–8. Naples, from Teanum Sidicinum: MA XX p. 79, Tomb 33. Florence, from Monteriggioni: SE II pll. 34–5 and pp. 160–2. New York, from Bolsena: Richter, Cat. Bronzes pp. 180–2, Tomb IIIGoogle Scholar.

3 See van Essen, in Bulletin van de Vereeniging tot Bevordering der Kennis van de antieke Beschaving IV, pt. 2 (Dec. 1931) 24–33Google Scholar.

4 Die praenestinischen Spiegel (1912).

5 WV. 1889 pl. 12, 1; Pfuhl fig. 628; Giglioli pll. 285–9 and 290, 2.

6 London B607 (CV. f pl. 3, 1); Harvard (CV. pl. 6).

7 The date of the picture used as model is a different question. Unless the gloves are an addition by Novios Plautios or a forerunner, which is not very likely, the picture also cannot have been earlier than 336: Miss Speier, on other grounds, dates it at the beginning of the period of Alexander, (RM. XLVII 80)Google Scholar. In EVP. 34–5 I implied an earlier date: but I am no longer sure that the Florence bellkrater (FR. pl. 177, whence EVP. pl. 9, 1) is so closely connected with the drawing on the Ficoroni cista, or that it represents Argonauts: Buschor's simple description, ‘Soldiers resting’ is probably nearer the mark.

8 From Tarquinia: de Ridder, Cat. des bronzes du Louvre pl. 88, 1839Google Scholar; Beazley and Ashmole fig. 141; Züchner Gr. Klappspiegel pll. 16–17, whence Die Antike XX 84Google Scholar.

9 Matthies, 15–16; Züchner op. cit. 3.

10 EVP. 1–3.

11 London 545: Gerhard pl. 289, 2.

12 London 244: Gerhard pl. 120, 2–3; Walters Cat. Bronzes pl. 17, 1.

13 London 543, from Palestrina (Praeneste). KK. pl. 12; BMC Bronzes pl. 17, 2; Ducati pl. 121, 318; Giglioli pl. 132, 4. Eros and Himeros are wingless on the Acropolis plaque 2526 (Graef and Langlotz pl. 104).

14 From Orvieto. KK. pl. 158.

15 London 542: Gerhard pl. 344; BMC Bronzes pl. 18; Ducati pl. 144; Giglioli pl. 134, 2; Hesp. 8, 288.

16 Vatican, from Vulci: SE VIII pl. 31 (Nogara); AA, 1926, p. 32, Beil. 1 (Nogara); Giglioli pl. 133, 2.

17 Vatican, from Vulci: Gerhard pl. 137; phot. Alinari 35556; Ducati pl. 145, 373; Giglioli pl. 227.

18 The name Aril recurs on a sardonyx scarab in Boston (Lewes House Gems pl. A, 21; SE X 400 fig. 1). On the subject see Hanfmann ibid. 399–405; and on the name, Fiesel ibid.

19 According to Mansuelli the expression of Atlas is typically Etruscan (SE XXIX, 114), but I do not feel this, for the reason given above.

20 London 544, from Perugia: Gerhard pl. 134.

21 Compare the Ladon, two-headed, on the Boston scarab (above, note 8), and Hanfmann's commentary.

22 Cab. Méd. 1289: Gerhard pl. 146, whence Babelon and Blanchet p. 505, and JHS LXVII, 6 with pp. 1–7Google Scholar.

23 Vatican. Gerhard pl. 224; phot. Alinari 35568, whence (part), SE XIX pl. 2, 1; Giglioli pl. 226, 4.

24 This must be the subject of a bronze relief from Perachora (Payne Perachora pl. 50, 12) where the right-hand wrestler wears a chitoniskos and must therefore be Atalanta.

25 Curious that the drawing of Peleus' chlamys, neatly rolled up and laid on a rock with his strigil, oil-flask, and carrying-thong, is much as in the Ficoroni cista.

26 Vatican: Gerhard pl. 223, whence Wolters, Der geflügelte Seher 3Google Scholar; phot. Alinari 35567; Ducati pl. 213, 523; Giglioli pl. 298, 1; SE XIX pl. 1.

27 After N. K. Chadwick Poetry and Prophecy pl. 2, by kind permission of the author.

27(bis) See Wolters Der geflügelte Seher.

28 New York 797: KK. pl. 107; Richter, Cat. Bronzes 273Google Scholar.

29 Naples, from Perugia: Gerhard pl. 197.

30 Körte (KK. 141) thinks that the wooer is Paris (not Menelaos) and that the name Menle is ‘an Etruscan interpolation.’ This does not seem certain. Elina, Elsntre, and Turan appear on a third mirror, Cabinet des Médailles 1296 (Gerhard pl. 198), which resembles the two others in style. These three mirrors are also put together by Mansuelli, (SE XIX, 51)Google Scholar.

31 Vatican; Gerhard pl. 240, whence Giglioli pl. 299, 4.

32 Tarquinia, Tomba dell' Orco (Mon. Inst. IX pl. 15); Vulci, Tomba François (Mon. Inst. VI pl. 31, 1; Messerschmidt Vulci p. 155 and pl. 29); Cab. Méd. 920 (Mon. Inst. II pl. 9, whence EVP. pl. 31, 2 with p. 136 no. 1).

33 Boston 34.79, pelike by the Lykaon Painter (AJA. XXXVIII pll. 26–7; A, JHS. LIV pl. 11: ARV. 690 no. 2).

34 Berlin, from Vulci: Gerhard pl. 83, whence Ducati pl. 211 and Giglioli pl. 296, 1; Licht, Sittengeschichte Griechenlands II 461Google Scholar; Giglioli pl. 296, 2. The photograph used by Licht, Giglioli and myself omits the border: for some reason the photographer had taken the trouble to conceal it with an arrangement of drawing-pins and imitation leather.

35 See EVP. 106–7 and Langlotz, , Phidiasprobleme 44–6 and 104Google Scholar.

36 New York 20. 60. 63, from Palestrina: KK. pl. 66; Richter, Etruscan Art fig. 133 and p. 59Google Scholar. See JHS LXVII, 7–9Google Scholar.

37 Richter, Etruscan Art 59Google Scholar.

38 Boston: Harvard Studies II pl. 2 (von Mach); Fairbanks and Chase, Greek Gods and Heroes,472Google Scholar. See EVP. 139–41. Eldridge was the first to notice the resemblance in style to the New York mirror (AJA XXI 365, note 2). A third mirror close to these, as Mansuelli noted (SE XIX 103), is New York 802, with Atmite and Alcestei, from Falerii (KK. p. 217; Richter, Cat. Bronzes 279Google Scholar, left, whence AA 1925 p. 283 figs. 2–3).

39 Louvre 1729, from Palestrina: KK. pl. 108, with p. 143, whence Robert, Arch. Hermeneutik 219Google Scholar; Enc.phot. III pl. 102.

40 See V. Pol. 44–6.

41 London, from Talamone: Mon. Inst. XI pl. 3, 7, whence KK. pl. 93.

42 Simonides fr. 204; Robert, Heldensage 866Google Scholar.

43 The first letter is h, not a as in the modern copy. (This name is often aspirated in Etruscan.) The drawing in KK. is not quite accurate: for example, the nose of Jason is really somewhat aquiline. On the other hand, Rescial's nostril was omitted when the lines of the original were filled in with white.

44 London 626: Gerhard pl. 213.

45 See below, p. 12.

46 Bologna, from Arezzo: Gerhard pl. 66; from a photograph, Giglioli pl. 298, 3.

47 See Kunze, Zeus und Ganymedes 48Google Scholar.

48 Lucian, Dial. deor. 9, 1Google Scholar.

49 Louvre 1728, from Orbetello: Gerhard pl. 325, whence JdI XXVI 142 fig. 60 (Studniczka) and Ducati pl. 246.

50 Castle Ashby: Gerhard pl. 112. For the style compare London 630 (Gerhard pl. 299), the Berlin Telephos mirror (Fig. 14, and below, p. 12) and a mirror in Munich (Gerhard pl. 74): all three compared already by Mansuelli, (SE XIX, 100)Google Scholar.

51 Leningrad: Gerhard pl. 322, whence Giglioli pl. 296, 3.

52 Berlin, from Bomarzo: Gerhard pl. 229, whence Roscher, s.v. ‘Telephos’ p. 307Google Scholar, Ducati pl. 212, 521, Giglioli pl. 301, 2. See above, p. 11.

53 Florence 80933, from Perugia (Tomba Sperandio, N.E. of the city); NSc. 1900, p. 557; SE XVI pl. 41, 2, with p. 536 (Mansuelli). The co-finds: Ducati pl. 248.

54 Berlin: Gerhard pl. 176.

55 See JHS LIX p. 38Google Scholar.

55(bis) Fiesel has a different explanation (Namen 130 n. 342).

56 Conze pl. 211; Bulle Der schöne Mensch pl. 267; Beazley and Ashmole fig. 138.

57 On the replica in a Roman collection see JHS LIX, 29Google Scholar. One of the variations there is that Atalanta is characterized as ὀρεσκῷος; by not being depilated.

58 Brussels: Gerhard pl. 307.

59 London, from Palestrina: Fröhner, Coll. Tyszkiewicz pl. 28, whence KK. p. 146Google Scholar.

60 Baltimore, Walters, 54.85, from Castelgiorgio near Orvieto: KK. pl. 35, with pp. 44–7 (Körte). See also Fiesel in Roscher s.v. ‘Vesuna.’

61 Compare the statue of Pothos, preserved in copies and variants (Bulle in JdI LVI, 123–150; Müller, Walther in JdI LVIII, 154–182Google Scholar; Mingazzini, in Arti figurative, 1946, 137–41Google Scholar.

62 Below, p. 16.

63 Florence, from Volterra: KK. pl. 60, whence Giglioli pl. 299, 5 and Cook Zeus III, 91Google Scholar; Ducati pl. 241, 588; Giglioli pl. 300.

64 On the legend, Körte in KK. pp. 73–8; Friedländer, PaulHerakles 164–5 and 180Google Scholar; Robert, Heldensage 427Google Scholar; SE IX, 298 (Becatti); Rend. Pont. VIII (1931–1932) 164Google Scholar (Monaco); Cook, Zeus III, 89–94Google Scholar.

65 Mirrors in Bologna (Gerhard pl. 126, whence Cook Zeus III, 90) and Berlin (KK. pl. 59, whence Cook, Zeus III, 93)Google Scholar.

66 London F107 (Cook, Zeus III, pl. 15, 1)Google Scholar.

67 On the inscription, Fiesel, in AJP 1936 pp. 130–6Google Scholar, and Vetter, in Glotta XXVIII, 172–3 and 210Google Scholar.

67(bis) For the style compare a mirror in Amsterdam (Gerhard pl. 354; Bull, van de Vereeniging VI, ii, Dec. 1931, 25)Google Scholar, already adduced by van Essen (ibid 29).

68 Perugia, from Porano: KK. pl. 77. On the Egg of Helen see EVP., index, under Helen.

69 On lunettes so decorated, EVP. 130–1.

70 ‘Class Z’: see EVP. 130–2.

71 New York: Pollak and Muñoz La collection Stroganoff pl. 27, 2; Richter Etruscan Art fig. 150.

72 Herrmann Denkmäler der Malerei pl. 55.

73 See Num. Chron. 1941 p. 7Google Scholar and EVP. 131.

74 New York 817, from Bolsena: Furtwängler, Neue Denkmäler III, 270Google Scholar = K.S. II 5, 2 and 513 fig. 13; Richter, Cat. Bronzes 281Google Scholar. The co-finds, Richter ibid. 180–2, Tomb III.

75 So Miss Richter rightly, correcting Furtwängler's account.

76 Florence, from Bolsena; KK. pl. 88, 2.

77 Aratha is doubtless a slip for Areatha.

78 Klügmann connected the mirror with Dracontius 10, 180; Körte denied the connection (KK. 110–1).

79 London 633, from Bolsena. KK. pl. 127, whence Festgabe Hugo Blümner 76 fig. 1 and JdI XLV 77 fig. 12.

80 On the subject, besides Körte (KK. 166–72), Robert, in Festgabe Hugo Blümner 75–85Google Scholar.

81 Rome, Museo Torlonia in Lungara: Noël Des Vergers L'Etrurie pl. 25; Messerschmidt Vulci pll. 14–17 and p. 111.