Hand Mirror with the Dioscuri and King Amykos

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Hand Mirror with the Dioscuri and King Amykos

Place of OriginItaly, excavated in Palestrina (ancient Praeneste)

Date300-200 BCE

Dimensions12 1/2 × 6 3/4 × 3 1/8 in. (31.7 × 17.1 × 8 cm)
4 3/4 × 1/4 × 1/4 in.

MediumCast bronze with incised decoration

ClassificationMetalwork

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1980.1340

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionThe reverse bears a finely engraved mythological scene framed by an undulating ivy vine with trilobed leaves and round berries. Two swimming dolphins occupy the lower field, above an inverted palmette with flanking volutes. The central medallion depicts Castor, Amycus, and Polydeuces in the episode of Amycus’s binding. Castor is shown from the back with spear, chlamys, and pilleus; Amycus appears bearded and bound to a tree; and Polydeuces stands crowned, armed, and extending his hand toward his captive. Their names, CASTOR, AMVCOS, and POLOVCES, are inscribed beside the figures.

Label TextModern mirrors are made by coating the reverse side of a piece of glass with a thin layer of reflective metal like silver or aluminum. Ancient mirrors, however, were highly polished pieces of metal, usually bronze or silver. They were expensive luxuries for the wealthy and were often highly decorated on the reverse (non-reflective) side. This mirror features an engraved design showing the twin heroes Castor and Polydeuces (called Pollux by the Romans) with King Amykus. The incised names are among the earliest examples of writing in Latin. When new, this mirror was golden in color, and the incised decoration would have been easy to see. Centuries of corrosion have made the decoration far less visible, so white pigment has been inserted in the lines to make it possible to read the details.Published ReferencesHelbig, Karl Friedrich Wolfgang, Bullettino dell'Instituto di corrispondenza archeologica, Rome, 1869, p. 14.

Heydemann, Heinrich Gustav Dieudonné, "Specchi Etruschi," Annales de l'institut de correspondance archaeologique, Rome, 1869, pp. 193-200, esp. p. 199.

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Maccabruni, Claudia, “Recupero di un noto specchio prenestino,” Numismatica e Antichità Classiche. Quaderni Ticinesi, vol. 6, 1977, pp. 53–71, pls. 1–3.

Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of Antiquities, London, 15 July 1980, pp. 54–55, lot 99.

Weis, Harriett Anne, “The Motif of the Adligatus and Tree: A Study in the Sources of Pre-Roman Iconography,” American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 86, no. 1, 1982, pp. 33–34, no. 6.

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Richardson, Bemeline H., "The tree and the spring: the story of Amycus and the Dioscuri," Archaeological News, vol. 13, no. 3/4, Fall/Winter 1984, pp. 57-67, fig. 1-4.

DePuma, Richard D., Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum, U.S.A. l: Midwestern collections, Ames, IA, 1986, p. 56-58, pl. 39 a-d, p. 208-211.

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Carpino, Alexandra A., “Greek Mythology in Etruria: An Iconographic Analysis of Three Etruscan Relief Mirrors,” in Hall, John Franklin (ed.), Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the Civilizations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, Provo, UT, Museum of Art, Brigham Young University, 1996, pp. 73, 87, fig. 8.

Carpino, Alexandra A., Discs of Splendor: The Relief Mirrors of the Etruscans, Madison, University of Wisconsin Press, 2003, pp. 24, 38.

Franchi De Bellis, Annalisa, Iscrizioni prenestine su specchi e ciste, Allesandria, Ed. dell'Orso, 2005, pp. 32-39, pl. IIa and b.

Exhibition HistoryToledo Museum of Art, The Museum Collects: Treasures by Sculptors and Craftsmen, December 7, 1980 - January 25, 1981, p. 12-13, repr.