Object Image

Mirror with a Handle in the Form of a Herakles Knot

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.

Credit: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund...

c. 280-400 CE
Silver
2.3cm
1956.31
Image and text: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2024

Where you'll find this

The Cleveland Museum of Art
Permanent collection