The history of mirrors starts in the III Century B.C. Most ancient mirrors were made from
metal and had a round shape. The back side of the ancient mirrors was
beautifully embellished with ornamentation. Mirrors were made from highly
polished bronze and silver. The first glass mirrors were invented in I Century
by Romans.
From ancient times special qualities had been given to
mirrors, that no other object had. The Greek philosopher Socrates gave
advice to young men to look at themselves in the mirror, and those who were handsome
should focus their life on keeping their souls clean and stay away from the
temptations of life that could take them on the wrong path. If a young man
would find that he is not handsome, he should compensate for his look from
his heart, and get known for doing a lot of good things.
In Medieval period
glass mirrors completely disappeared, because during those times religious
confessions stated that devil is looking and watching the world from the
opposite side of a glass mirrors. Poor fashionable ladies had to use a
polished metal mirrors or special water bowls instead of glass mirrors.
Glass mirrors came back only in 13th century. This time they were bended
slightly outward. The method of attaching tin to the flat surface of the glass wasn't invented
yet. Using available technology master glaziers poured hot tin into glass tubs, and then, after
the tin was cold, they would brake it into separate
pieces. Only three centuries later Venetian masters invented a "flat
mirror technique". They figured out how to attach tin to a flat glass
surface. Venetian masters invented another trick. They created a special
reflective mixture in which gold and bronze was added. Because of this
"magical" mixture all objects reflecting in the mirrors looked much more
beautiful than in reality. The cost of one Venetian mirror then was
comparable to the cost of the large naval ship.
In a city of Nuremberg
(Germany) in 1373 the first mirror manufacturing plant was open. Mirrors
were then aggressively integrated in all aspects of life. In the 16th
century mirrors become a part of mysterious rituals and witchcraft.
Also, for 200 years mirrors were used by Spanish and French spies for coding and decoding secret
messages. This secret coding system was introduced in 15th century by
Leonardo da Vinci. The scriptures were coded in "mirror reflection" and
without the mirror it was impossible to read the message. Mirrors were part
of another big invention of the time - the periscope. The opportunity to
discreetly spy on ones enemy by using a system of interactive mirrors saved a lot
of lives during wars. During the famous Thirty Year war, mirrors were used by all sides
to blind the enemy during military actions with bright reflection of sun
light. It was very hard to take aim when your eyes are blinded by thousands
of tiny mirrors.
Starting with 12th century no respectful lady left her
house without a small mirror. Handheld mirrors and pears mirrors became a
must have items for every woman. Ladies wore gold embellished mirrors on a
chain around their neck or waist, inserted mirrors in to the fens. Mirrors
were treated just like precious jewelry, and were incased in specially
crafted exotic materials like turtle shell or elephant bone frames.
Some of the mirror's frames were made from gold or silver with an elegant
miniature engravings.
In the 15th century the Venetian Island of Murano become
the center of glass making and was known as the "Isle of Glass".
They officially created the "Council of Ten" with a special mission of
vigorously protecting the secrets of there glass making techniques. Masters
glassmakers were secretly transported to the island of Murano
undercover as a firefighters. The "Council of Ten" generously supported
glassmakers and at the same time kept them isolated from the rest of the
world. The profits from the mirror making monopoly were too large to take
any risks. European monarchs at whatever it cost tried to find out the Venetian
glassmaking secrets. They accomplish this goal in 17th century, when
Colbert (the minister of Ludwig XIV) bribed with gold three Murano masters
and transported them in to France.
The French happened to be a good
students, and very quickly they not only mastered Murano glass making
techniques, but invented they're own. While mirror making techniques used by
Venetian masters was based on a glassblowing, French masters started
manufacturing mirrors using casting techniques based on pouring glass into
the cast molds. The glass was poured directly from the dome into perfectly
smooth surface of the cast mold, and then, as the glass was cooling, it was rolled with the
special rollers achieving a perfect consistency and smoothness of material.
Immediately after this invention, in Versailles the construction of the
Mirrors Gallery began. The Mirrors Gallery was 220 feet (73 meters) long and
embellished with 306 huge mirrors.
On the end of 16th century, following the high fusion
style, French queen Maria De Medici decided to create for herself a Mirrored
office. For this matter, 119 mirrors was purchased from Venice. Maybe
because her purchase was so large, or for some other reason, Venetian masters
created a special gift for the queen of France - a unique large mirror
generously incrusted with precious stones. Till this day this mirror is
preserved and kept in the Louvre in Paris.
Mirrors become a popular valuable collectibles
among royals. English King Hendry VIII and the King of France Francis I were
the most known mirrors collectors of there time. Trying to catch up with kings,
nobles in France had to have an extravagant mirrors in any cost. There is a
knowing facts that some of them had to sell one of they residents in order to
purchase a single beautiful mirror. Mirrors were extremely costly. For example one mirror cost more than an Rafael's painting
of the same size.
In 17th century Russia, mirrors were
considered a sin. In 1666 the Orthodox Church in prohibited the possession
of mirrors by its priests. From this time on a lot of superstitions surrounded mirrors.
Those superstitions seems to us funny and naive, but back than people took
it very seriously. Breaking a mirror, for example, was sign of bad lack for
seven years. That is why when a mirror was broken the person who broke it
should apologies to the mirror for clumsiness, and had to carefully and
respectfully bury it. Solders took mirrors-talismans to reflect away death.
Mirrors have had a long and colorful journey throughout history. In our days
there is no home without a mirror. Mirrors have become part of our everyday
routine, often unappreciated. We always should remember "reflect" and
respect the historical aspects of mirrors and appreciate more not only
mirror's functionality, but incredible esthetical value of the mirrors
