Hercle and Turms on an Etruscan Engraved Mirror
Abstract
"A new acquisition by the Museum of Art and Archaeology has provided an excellent opportunity for me, after an interval of twenty-five years, to return to the "San Francisco Group" of Etruscan bronze mirrors. This special group of more than thirty mirrors was first brought together on the evidence of two specimens in San Francisco, study of which soon attracted numerous other mirrors that bore a characteristic two-figured composition depicting males-generally nude, and one or both figures young (clean shaven) or old (bearded)-who confront each other (as if conversing) in an awkward half-seated, half-leaning posture. Although the figures may sit on or lean against a shield, club, rock, or the like, such supports are usually omitted or merely implied by the engraver who has unwittingly created a rather precarious pose often present on mirrors of the group, but especially conspicuous on "descendent" mirrors of the group, which show debased representations of the Dioskouroi."--First paragraph.
Citation
Originally published in: Muse, 1981, volume 15, pages 54-57
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