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Mirror Support: Siren
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
This is a bronze of exceptional quality. When complete, it had a cylindrical handle, probably of painted ivory. The reflecting disk was probably of silver, as are the inlays. The intact mirror was obviously an object of great luxury. Sirens (part bird and part woman) were sea-songstresses whose captivating voices drew sailors off course to their deaths. Sirens also accompanied the dead on their voyage to the underworld. The idea was probably imported from Egypt where human-headed ba birds embodied a deceased person's spirit.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineMirror Support: Siren, c. 475 BCE. Greece, Corinth, presumably of Corinthian or Argive origin. Bronze with silver inlays; overall: 11.5 x 9 cm (4 1/2 x 3 9/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1967.204
