Aphrodite
Mirror with women bathing before a statue of Aphrodite on a pillar, Roman Imperial Period, AD 110-117, bronze, 13.3 cm
Museum of Fine Arts de Boston Inv. 1978.158
Hygiene was a mark of purity and status for women in the ancient world, and bathing was not only a practical activity but often a ritual in itself. This mirror shows two nude women bathing at a basin in a sanctuary of Venus, as a statue of the goddess sits atop a column in the background-a common means of identifying sacred space in Classical art. The early worship of Aphrodite, as Venus was known to the Greeks, centered on personal rituals for women, and preparation for love and marriage, bathing, and beautification were cult activities that endured for centuries. (MFABoston)
