The Claude Glass

Use and Meaning of the Black Mirror in Western Art

By: Arnaud Maillet, Jeff Fort (Translator)

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Hardcover | 16 November 2004

At a Glance

Hardcover
304 Pages

Age
18+

Dimensions(cm)
23.5 x 16 x 2.9

New Edition

Published: 17th January 2009

Hardcover

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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.

Industry Reviews

This sustained examination of an instrument so integral to the history of Romantic esthetics, and yet so neglected, is a valuable and important work.

-Library Journal

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Arts & Entertainment Art Forms Ceramic Arts Handicrafts, Decorative Arts & Crafts Science Science in General History of Science History of Art & Design Styles Art Styles Not Defined by Date Art Treatments & Subjects Art Techniques & Principles

General Issues in Art Art from 1800 to 1900

Acknowledgments	p. 9
Prolegomena
Definitions: Characteristics and Aspects	p. 15
Problems of Naming	p. 27
Problems of Historical Sources: The Disappearing Mirror	p. 37
A Suspicious Mirror
Demoniac Mirrors	p. 47
Catoptromancy	p. 57
Magnetism, Hypnotism	p. 61
Disquiet	p. 67
Fascination	p. 77
A Reductive Mirror
Regarding the Eye and the Visual Field	p. 85
A Reductive Mirror: Regarding Tonality	p. 103
A Seductive and Deceptive Mirror
An Idealizing Mirror	p. 137
Limits on the Use of the Claude Mirror	p. 147
Toward Deception and Beyond	p. 167
A Devaluing Mirror
Devaluation	p. 187
Abstraction(s)	p. 203
An Irremediable Loss	p. 211
Notes	p. 223
Index	p. 289
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

The Claude Glass

Use and Meaning of the Black Mirror in Western Art

At a Glance

New Edition

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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