The Etruscan Kiss and Embrace: A Mirror at the British Museum and a Lifetime in a Gesture

The British Museum currently houses an Etruscan mirror portraying a depiction of two women engaged in an embrace and sharing a kiss. Despite previous endeavors to elucidate the symbolic gesture, the profound implications behind the embrace remain shrouded in ambiguity. This article argues that the mirror, while adorned with a veneer of mythology, conceals a narrative that holds pivotal significance in a woman’s life, specifically, the moment of a bride bidding farewell to her mother. Under this interpretive framework, the gesture takes on the role of a salutation, a conjecture fortified by parallels drawn from analogous scenes in different artistic mediums.