Relief of Aphrodite and Anchises
- Audio guide stop: 272
- Gallery: Room 20
- Culture: Classical Greek
- Date: 350BC-320BC (circa)
- Object type: mirror-case
- Materials: bronze
- Museum number: 1904,0702.1
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
Before you is a bronze mirror-case relief titled "Relief of Aphrodite and Anchises." Created in Classical Greece around 350 to 320 BCE, this small yet striking piece shows a mythological scene from Mount Ida. A goddess with flowing drapery, likely Aphrodite, appears with two winged Erotes, or cupids. Opposite her stands Anchises, recognized by the presence of his dog.
The bronze has been finely worked using the repoussé technique, where the reverse is hammered to create raised shapes on the front. This relief was probably part of a larger object—perhaps a mirror-case, as suggested by its size and function.
The piece was discovered in Paramythia in Epirus and later bought by a collector in 1798. Though parts were restored and altered over time, it has remained a treasured object in many exhibitions. The scene offers a glimpse of classical storytelling captured in metal—elegant, intimate, and steeped in ancient myth.
See it in person
Relief of Aphrodite and Anchises is on display in Room 20 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and type its audio guide stop number, 272, from the gallery label, or take a photo of it, to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
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