Clever Use of Mirrors in Art
Written by Teresita Blanco (The Artsy Sister)
Mirrors have made sporadic appearances in art, since their inception. Around the Renaissance period, mirrors started to be used to have paintings within paintings. They were also used to engage the audience.
In the Arnolfini wedding, the tiny mirror shows the spectators of the wedding. We are also there within it. In Caravaggio’s Narcissus, the mirror effect is done with the lake. Based on the angle, he is seeing a shimmering reflection of the audience.
The same thing was done in the Mirror of Venus of Rubens. In Las Meninas, it uses a mirror similar to the Arnolfini wedding. In Mary Cassat’s painting, she maiden in pink dress is looking at the audience.
This is known by the reflection in the mirror behind her. The same gimmick is in the Manet painting. Due to the weird angle, we are the flanuer asking for a drink. Orpen’s mirror is tiny ala Arnolfini wedding style.
Bonnard’s mirror has all the action happening in the reflection. The Kitchner mirror reflection doesn’t match the sitter. The Lady of Shallot painting can only see the world through a mirror. She is half sick of shadows.
This alludes to Plato’s allegory of the cave. The humans stuck in the cave can only see the reality of shadows that is presented to them. The Lady can only view the world indirectly through the mirror.
She can never participate in the events. She is forever cursed to sew. The Tata mirror is a painting, within a painting, within a painting. The Dali painting is also like it. The eye is a false mirror since perception is subjective.
The Delvaux mirror shows the inner desires of the sitter. The other mirror paintings just work with fun distortions. There are also a couple of fun photo manipulations. I hope you find these artworks amusing. There is a video of this topic in my Artsy Sister Youtube channel. Bye, bye and God bless.
