Beginning with a tale of early modern industrial espionage,
newcomer Melchior-Bonnet considers the mirror's significance in
moral, religious, and philosophical discourse throughout
history..In the 17th century, Venetian craftsmen were smuggled into
France to staff the Royal Glass Company in an attempt to undermine
the Italian monopoly. The Venetian government retaliated with
kidnappings, forged letters, and other subterfuges to protect what
they regarded as a state secret: the techniques of mirror
manufacture. Out of the ensuing battle for a growing market emerged
technological developments that transformed the mirror from a rare
and costly object into a staple artifact of modern experience. From
antiquity onward, mirrors stood for what is most wonderful and
problematic about sight, both defining and extending the limits of
vision. During the Middle Ages the mirror's religious impact was
twofold: in the humanist tradition, it served as a reminder of how
the human body reflected the divine image; but another vein of
Christian morality viewed the mirror as a tool of Satan, a snare
especially for women, whose sexuality it made monstrous and
threatening. The mirror's social function as an instrument of
self-knowledge similarly engendered a dual aspect: it was a
dispassionate observer, judging the gazer's looks and demeanor on
behalf of the public eye; and also a secret partner and accomplice,
conspiring to blot out consideration of anything but the self. To
the mirrors of truth and vanity are added the distorting mirror of
madness, which alters what it reflects to reveal fresh truths or
terrors, and the permeable mirror of dreams, which presents an
alternative and contingent reality. Bonnet-Melchior discusses all
these ideas in terms of representative literary, philosophical, and
pictorial texts spanning the centuries. These readings are uneven:
the author clearly knows more about literature and philosophy than
she does about art, but the scope of her ideas and her evident ease
with the broad range of materials compensate for occasional
interpretive weaknesses. Alas, they must also overcome the
translator's inappropriate colloquialisms and botched allusions..A
stylish, erudite meditation worthy of its provocative subject..
(Kirkus Reviews)
'The Mirror is an amusing jewel of a book, a sparkling reflection of the history of the mirror in Europe, and the role of the mirror in European imagination.' - Los Angeles Times
"The cultural history of the mirror is fully explored by Sabine Melchior-Bonnet. The book marries science and art, literature and philosophy." - New York Times
'This erudite meditation ... reveals how significantly the mirror has influenced Western culture...this beautifully illustrated study offers so many intriguing glimpses into the meanings of reflection that it will reward anyone who peers beneath its surface.' - Publishers Weekly
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