mirrors
the claude glass use and meaning of the black mirror in western art
p in this first full length study of a largely forgotten optical device from the eighteenth century arnaud maillet reconfigures our historical understanding of visual experience and meaning in relation to notions of opacity transparency and imagination . many are familiar with the claude glass as a small black convex mirror used by artists and spectators of landscape to reflect a view and make tonal values and areas of light and shade visible . in a groundbreaking account maillet goes well beyond this particular function of the glass and situates it within a richer archaeology of western thought exploring the uncertainties and anxieties about mirrors reflections and their potential distortions . he takes us from the magical and occult background of the black mirror through a full evaluation of its importance in the age of the picturesque to its persistence in a range of technological and representational practices including photography film and contemporary art . the claude glass is a lasting contribution to the history of western visual culture .