Files

Abstract

From being items of great mystery and magic to items of quotidian ubiquity, mirrors have a long and fascinating history. This paper seeks to identify the use of mirrors as metaphors in art and literature, with a primary focus on eighteenth-century France, especially as they relate to the idea of vanity. It also pays special attention to socio-economic developments in the early modern period regarding the widening availability of crystal flat-backed mirrors to argue that the new widespread use of these more accurate mirrors gave ordinary people new tools to be vain, heralding new developments toward our modern world.

Details

Actions

from
to
Export
Download Full History