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Passage I
INFORMATIONAL: This passage is from the essay "Producing and Collecting Portraits of Artists" by Anna Reynolds and Lucy Peter.
One practical consideration with painted self-portraits, which is easy to forget today, was the availability of mirrors. Flat glass mirrors were invented in Venice in around 1500. Before this date, mirrors were small and convex, and therefore a potential deterrent to artists. However, attributing the development of self-portraiture purely to the development of mirrors is an oversimplification. While flat mirrors were available from c.1500, they were also prohibitively expensive: it was not until the 1700s, when the French started producing mirrors of the same size and quality as the Venetians, that the market opened up and mirrors became more affordable. This is not to say that practical advancements in the production of mirrors had no impact on the development of self-portraiture. The ability to see yourself more clearly and more frequently, around the turn of the sixteenth century, must have had a considerable social impact, encouraging greater physical self-awareness and helping to fuel the vanity of the Renaissance self-portraitist.
Before the invention of flat glass in the late fifteenth century, mirrors were either made of polished stone, metal or convex glass. The latter were created from balls of blown glass filled with molten metal (typically lead, mercury or silver); and once cool, sections of the ball were cut to form individual pieces. The firstknown representation of a self-portrait being painted with the use of a mirror is in Giovanni Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women (Bibliotebe nationale de France, c.1404): the Ancient Roman artist Iaia of Cyzicus (also known as Marcia) is shown working from a small convex glass mirror held in her hand. From the fifteenth century convex mirrors also frequently appeared in a range of narrative paintings to demonstrate the skill of the artist. Even after the invention of flat mirrors, many artists continued to allude to convex mirrors in their work; indeed, it was to become an attribute of the artist, often shown hanging in the workshop of St Luke, the patron saint of artists.
40 In the early sixteenth century Parmigianino painted one of the most iconic images in the history of self-portraiture, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. The painting itself was created on a specially prepared
convex panel of wood designed to imitate the curve of the convex glass. The foreground is dominated by the artist's right hand, exaggerated by the curve of the mirror, while a gold C-shaped curve on the far right probably indicates the frame of the actual mirror from which the artist was working.
50 The first flat glass mirrors were produced in Venice in the late fifteenth century thanks to two major technical developments: the discovery of a new type of glass known as 'cristallo', so clear it was compared to rock crystal, and an improved silvering technique achieved through the combination of mercury and tin. By the early sixteenth century flat glass mirrors were available to artists across Europe, although they remained expensive. A Man in Armour after Girolamo Savoldo (c.1480-1548) shows the sitter, possibly the artist himself, reflected in two flat glass mirrors. In Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century such mirrors often feature as part of a domestic interior, as in Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, which shows a half-length mirror on the wall above the instrument.
Full-length mirrors did not come into use until c.1700, which may account for the limited number of full-length self-portraits prior to this date. It was not until the nineteenth century, with the discovery of a cheaper technique for silvering glass, that mirrors of a standard thickness and quality were finally available to the mass market.
When working on a flat table or drawing board the artist could sit in front of the mirror, producing an accordingly frontal pose. Use of an easel, however, meant repositioning the mirror so that it could be seen: Jean Alphonse Roehn (1799-1864), for example, shows a mirror propped on a chair to the artist's left, at right angles to her easel. In this painting the window beyond the mirror has been partially covered so that the light falls onto the artist from the upper left; her painting hand is furthest from the mirror, neither casting a shadow on her canvas nor blocking her view of her body. This practical set-up resulted in the most common and enduring pose in self-portraiture: the artist, in three-quarter length view, turns (usually) over the right shoulder fixing the viewer with a steady outward gaze.
The main purpose of the passage is to:
provide an overview of famous self-portraits created using flat glass mirrors.
explore trends in the art world that led to the development of self-portraiture.
describe the relationship and significance of mirrors to the development of self-portraits.
explain the history of and manufacturing methods involved in the development of mirrors.
Passage I
INFORMATIONAL: This passage is from the essay "Producing and Collecting Portraits of Artists" by Anna Reynolds and Lucy Peter.
One practical consideration with painted self-portraits, which is easy to forget today, was the availability of mirrors. Flat glass mirrors were invented in Venice in around 1500. Before this date, mirrors were small and convex, and therefore a potential deterrent to artists. However, attributing the development of self-portraiture purely to the development of mirrors is an oversimplification. While flat mirrors were available from c.1500, they were also prohibitively expensive: it was not until the 1700s, when the French started producing mirrors of the same size and quality as the Venetians, that the market opened up and mirrors became more affordable. This is not to say that practical advancements in the production of mirrors had no impact on the development of self-portraiture. The ability to see yourself more clearly and more frequently, around the turn of the sixteenth century, must have had a considerable social impact, encouraging greater physical self-awareness and helping to fuel the vanity of the Renaissance self-portraitist.
Before the invention of flat glass in the late fifteenth century, mirrors were either made of polished stone, metal or convex glass. The latter were created from balls of blown glass filled with molten metal (typically lead, mercury or silver); and once cool, sections of the ball were cut to form individual pieces. The firstknown representation of a self-portrait being painted with the use of a mirror is in Giovanni Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women (Bibliotebe nationale de France, c.1404): the Ancient Roman artist Iaia of Cyzicus (also known as Marcia) is shown working from a small convex glass mirror held in her hand. From the fifteenth century convex mirrors also frequently appeared in a range of narrative paintings to demonstrate the skill of the artist. Even after the invention of flat mirrors, many artists continued to allude to convex mirrors in their work; indeed, it was to become an attribute of the artist, often shown hanging in the workshop of St Luke, the patron saint of artists.
40 In the early sixteenth century Parmigianino painted one of the most iconic images in the history of self-portraiture, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. The painting itself was created on a specially prepared
convex panel of wood designed to imitate the curve of the convex glass. The foreground is dominated by the artist's right hand, exaggerated by the curve of the mirror, while a gold C-shaped curve on the far right probably indicates the frame of the actual mirror from which the artist was working.
50 The first flat glass mirrors were produced in Venice in the late fifteenth century thanks to two major technical developments: the discovery of a new type of glass known as 'cristallo', so clear it was compared to rock crystal, and an improved silvering technique achieved through the combination of mercury and tin. By the early sixteenth century flat glass mirrors were available to artists across Europe, although they remained expensive. A Man in Armour after Girolamo Savoldo (c.1480-1548) shows the sitter, possibly the artist himself, reflected in two flat glass mirrors. In Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century such mirrors often feature as part of a domestic interior, as in Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, which shows a half-length mirror on the wall above the instrument.
Full-length mirrors did not come into use until c.1700, which may account for the limited number of full-length self-portraits prior to this date. It was not until the nineteenth century, with the discovery of a cheaper technique for silvering glass, that mirrors of a standard thickness and quality were finally available to the mass market.
When working on a flat table or drawing board the artist could sit in front of the mirror, producing an accordingly frontal pose. Use of an easel, however, meant repositioning the mirror so that it could be seen: Jean Alphonse Roehn (1799-1864), for example, shows a mirror propped on a chair to the artist's left, at right angles to her easel. In this painting the window beyond the mirror has been partially covered so that the light falls onto the artist from the upper left; her painting hand is furthest from the mirror, neither casting a shadow on her canvas nor blocking her view of her body. This practical set-up resulted in the most common and enduring pose in self-portraiture: the artist, in three-quarter length view, turns (usually) over the right shoulder fixing the viewer with a steady outward gaze.
The main point of the first paragraph (lines 1-20) is that:
while mirrors were not wholly responsible for the development of self-portraiture, they likely played an important role.
mirrors enabled people to see themselves, which likely had a great social impact.
flat glass mirrors were invented in Venice around the year 1500.
before flat mirrors were invented, convex mirrors were the norm and not particularly helpful to most self-portraitists.
Passage I
INFORMATIONAL: This passage is from the essay "Producing and Collecting Portraits of Artists" by Anna Reynolds and Lucy Peter.
One practical consideration with painted self-portraits, which is easy to forget today, was the availability of mirrors. Flat glass mirrors were invented in Venice in around 1500. Before this date, mirrors were small and convex, and therefore a potential deterrent to artists. However, attributing the development of self-portraiture purely to the development of mirrors is an oversimplification. While flat mirrors were available from c.1500, they were also prohibitively expensive: it was not until the 1700s, when the French started producing mirrors of the same size and quality as the Venetians, that the market opened up and mirrors became more affordable. This is not to say that practical advancements in the production of mirrors had no impact on the development of self-portraiture. The ability to see yourself more clearly and more frequently, around the turn of the sixteenth century, must have had a considerable social impact, encouraging greater physical self-awareness and helping to fuel the vanity of the Renaissance self-portraitist.
Before the invention of flat glass in the late fifteenth century, mirrors were either made of polished stone, metal or convex glass. The latter were created from balls of blown glass filled with molten metal (typically lead, mercury or silver); and once cool, sections of the ball were cut to form individual pieces. The firstknown representation of a self-portrait being painted with the use of a mirror is in Giovanni Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women (Bibliotebe nationale de France, c.1404): the Ancient Roman artist Iaia of Cyzicus (also known as Marcia) is shown working from a small convex glass mirror held in her hand. From the fifteenth century convex mirrors also frequently appeared in a range of narrative paintings to demonstrate the skill of the artist. Even after the invention of flat mirrors, many artists continued to allude to convex mirrors in their work; indeed, it was to become an attribute of the artist, often shown hanging in the workshop of St Luke, the patron saint of artists.
40 In the early sixteenth century Parmigianino painted one of the most iconic images in the history of self-portraiture, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. The painting itself was created on a specially prepared
convex panel of wood designed to imitate the curve of the convex glass. The foreground is dominated by the artist's right hand, exaggerated by the curve of the mirror, while a gold C-shaped curve on the far right probably indicates the frame of the actual mirror from which the artist was working.
50 The first flat glass mirrors were produced in Venice in the late fifteenth century thanks to two major technical developments: the discovery of a new type of glass known as 'cristallo', so clear it was compared to rock crystal, and an improved silvering technique achieved through the combination of mercury and tin. By the early sixteenth century flat glass mirrors were available to artists across Europe, although they remained expensive. A Man in Armour after Girolamo Savoldo (c.1480-1548) shows the sitter, possibly the artist himself, reflected in two flat glass mirrors. In Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century such mirrors often feature as part of a domestic interior, as in Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, which shows a half-length mirror on the wall above the instrument.
Full-length mirrors did not come into use until c.1700, which may account for the limited number of full-length self-portraits prior to this date. It was not until the nineteenth century, with the discovery of a cheaper technique for silvering glass, that mirrors of a standard thickness and quality were finally available to the mass market.
When working on a flat table or drawing board the artist could sit in front of the mirror, producing an accordingly frontal pose. Use of an easel, however, meant repositioning the mirror so that it could be seen: Jean Alphonse Roehn (1799-1864), for example, shows a mirror propped on a chair to the artist's left, at right angles to her easel. In this painting the window beyond the mirror has been partially covered so that the light falls onto the artist from the upper left; her painting hand is furthest from the mirror, neither casting a shadow on her canvas nor blocking her view of her body. This practical set-up resulted in the most common and enduring pose in self-portraiture: the artist, in three-quarter length view, turns (usually) over the right shoulder fixing the viewer with a steady outward gaze.
Based on the passage, one similarity shared by A Man in Armour and Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman is:
the featuring of a convex mirror in the paintings.
the inclusion of flat glass mirrors in the paintings.
a focus on domestic interiors.
the biographical backgrounds of the artists.
Passage I
INFORMATIONAL: This passage is from the essay "Producing and Collecting Portraits of Artists" by Anna Reynolds and Lucy Peter.
One practical consideration with painted self-portraits, which is easy to forget today, was the availability of mirrors. Flat glass mirrors were invented in Venice in around 1500. Before this date, mirrors were small and convex, and therefore a potential deterrent to artists. However, attributing the development of self-portraiture purely to the development of mirrors is an oversimplification. While flat mirrors were available from c.1500, they were also prohibitively expensive: it was not until the 1700s, when the French started producing mirrors of the same size and quality as the Venetians, that the market opened up and mirrors became more affordable. This is not to say that practical advancements in the production of mirrors had no impact on the development of self-portraiture. The ability to see yourself more clearly and more frequently, around the turn of the sixteenth century, must have had a considerable social impact, encouraging greater physical self-awareness and helping to fuel the vanity of the Renaissance self-portraitist.
Before the invention of flat glass in the late fifteenth century, mirrors were either made of polished stone, metal or convex glass. The latter were created from balls of blown glass filled with molten metal (typically lead, mercury or silver); and once cool, sections of the ball were cut to form individual pieces. The firstknown representation of a self-portrait being painted with the use of a mirror is in Giovanni Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women (Bibliotebe nationale de France, c.1404): the Ancient Roman artist Iaia of Cyzicus (also known as Marcia) is shown working from a small convex glass mirror held in her hand. From the fifteenth century convex mirrors also frequently appeared in a range of narrative paintings to demonstrate the skill of the artist. Even after the invention of flat mirrors, many artists continued to allude to convex mirrors in their work; indeed, it was to become an attribute of the artist, often shown hanging in the workshop of St Luke, the patron saint of artists.
40 In the early sixteenth century Parmigianino painted one of the most iconic images in the history of self-portraiture, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. The painting itself was created on a specially prepared
convex panel of wood designed to imitate the curve of the convex glass. The foreground is dominated by the artist's right hand, exaggerated by the curve of the mirror, while a gold C-shaped curve on the far right probably indicates the frame of the actual mirror from which the artist was working.
50 The first flat glass mirrors were produced in Venice in the late fifteenth century thanks to two major technical developments: the discovery of a new type of glass known as 'cristallo', so clear it was compared to rock crystal, and an improved silvering technique achieved through the combination of mercury and tin. By the early sixteenth century flat glass mirrors were available to artists across Europe, although they remained expensive. A Man in Armour after Girolamo Savoldo (c.1480-1548) shows the sitter, possibly the artist himself, reflected in two flat glass mirrors. In Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century such mirrors often feature as part of a domestic interior, as in Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, which shows a half-length mirror on the wall above the instrument.
Full-length mirrors did not come into use until c.1700, which may account for the limited number of full-length self-portraits prior to this date. It was not until the nineteenth century, with the discovery of a cheaper technique for silvering glass, that mirrors of a standard thickness and quality were finally available to the mass market.
When working on a flat table or drawing board the artist could sit in front of the mirror, producing an accordingly frontal pose. Use of an easel, however, meant repositioning the mirror so that it could be seen: Jean Alphonse Roehn (1799-1864), for example, shows a mirror propped on a chair to the artist's left, at right angles to her easel. In this painting the window beyond the mirror has been partially covered so that the light falls onto the artist from the upper left; her painting hand is furthest from the mirror, neither casting a shadow on her canvas nor blocking her view of her body. This practical set-up resulted in the most common and enduring pose in self-portraiture: the artist, in three-quarter length view, turns (usually) over the right shoulder fixing the viewer with a steady outward gaze.
In the context of the passage, the author uses the phrase "fuel the vanity" (line 19) mainly to:
question Renaissance artists' commitment to the genre of the self-portrait.
suggest one reason why the availability of mirrors might have resulted in more self-portraits.
dispute the idea that mirrors were a significant cause of vanity during the Renaissance.
explain why the availability of mirrors affected some artists more than others.
Passage I
INFORMATIONAL: This passage is from the essay "Producing and Collecting Portraits of Artists" by Anna Reynolds and Lucy Peter.
One practical consideration with painted self-portraits, which is easy to forget today, was the availability of mirrors. Flat glass mirrors were invented in Venice in around 1500. Before this date, mirrors were small and convex, and therefore a potential deterrent to artists. However, attributing the development of self-portraiture purely to the development of mirrors is an oversimplification. While flat mirrors were available from c.1500, they were also prohibitively expensive: it was not until the 1700s, when the French started producing mirrors of the same size and quality as the Venetians, that the market opened up and mirrors became more affordable. This is not to say that practical advancements in the production of mirrors had no impact on the development of self-portraiture. The ability to see yourself more clearly and more frequently, around the turn of the sixteenth century, must have had a considerable social impact, encouraging greater physical self-awareness and helping to fuel the vanity of the Renaissance self-portraitist.
Before the invention of flat glass in the late fifteenth century, mirrors were either made of polished stone, metal or convex glass. The latter were created from balls of blown glass filled with molten metal (typically lead, mercury or silver); and once cool, sections of the ball were cut to form individual pieces. The firstknown representation of a self-portrait being painted with the use of a mirror is in Giovanni Boccaccio's Concerning Famous Women (Bibliotebe nationale de France, c.1404): the Ancient Roman artist Iaia of Cyzicus (also known as Marcia) is shown working from a small convex glass mirror held in her hand. From the fifteenth century convex mirrors also frequently appeared in a range of narrative paintings to demonstrate the skill of the artist. Even after the invention of flat mirrors, many artists continued to allude to convex mirrors in their work; indeed, it was to become an attribute of the artist, often shown hanging in the workshop of St Luke, the patron saint of artists.
40 In the early sixteenth century Parmigianino painted one of the most iconic images in the history of self-portraiture, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror. The painting itself was created on a specially prepared
convex panel of wood designed to imitate the curve of the convex glass. The foreground is dominated by the artist's right hand, exaggerated by the curve of the mirror, while a gold C-shaped curve on the far right probably indicates the frame of the actual mirror from which the artist was working.
50 The first flat glass mirrors were produced in Venice in the late fifteenth century thanks to two major technical developments: the discovery of a new type of glass known as 'cristallo', so clear it was compared to rock crystal, and an improved silvering technique achieved through the combination of mercury and tin. By the early sixteenth century flat glass mirrors were available to artists across Europe, although they remained expensive. A Man in Armour after Girolamo Savoldo (c.1480-1548) shows the sitter, possibly the artist himself, reflected in two flat glass mirrors. In Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century such mirrors often feature as part of a domestic interior, as in Vermeer's Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, which shows a half-length mirror on the wall above the instrument.
Full-length mirrors did not come into use until c.1700, which may account for the limited number of full-length self-portraits prior to this date. It was not until the nineteenth century, with the discovery of a cheaper technique for silvering glass, that mirrors of a standard thickness and quality were finally available to the mass market.
When working on a flat table or drawing board the artist could sit in front of the mirror, producing an accordingly frontal pose. Use of an easel, however, meant repositioning the mirror so that it could be seen: Jean Alphonse Roehn (1799-1864), for example, shows a mirror propped on a chair to the artist's left, at right angles to her easel. In this painting the window beyond the mirror has been partially covered so that the light falls onto the artist from the upper left; her painting hand is furthest from the mirror, neither casting a shadow on her canvas nor blocking her view of her body. This practical set-up resulted in the most common and enduring pose in self-portraiture: the artist, in three-quarter length view, turns (usually) over the right shoulder fixing the viewer with a steady outward gaze.
Which of the following statements most effectively captures the process by which convex mirrors were produced?
A ball of molten metal was formed, covered with glass, allowed to cool, and then cut into individual pieces.
A ball of molten metal was formed, allowed to cool, cut into individual pieces, and then covered with glass.
A ball of blown glass was formed, cut into individual pieces, filled with molten metal, and then allowed to cool.
A ball of blown glass was formed, filled with molten metal, allowed to cool, and then cut into individual pieces.