Early Prints Depicting Eyeglasses

SPECIAL ARTICLE Early Prints Depicting Eyeglasses

Charles E. Letocha, MD; John Dreyfus, MA(Cantab)

uch of the history of eyeglasses has been gleaned from studies of paintings and prints that illustrate them. A few prints from the first century of printing include spectacles and are reproduced in this article. In addition to showing their form and method of use, these prints also illustrate their symbolic value. M Arch Ophthalmol. 2002;120:1577-1580

In Europe, the use of paper and of xylog- light the known printed illustrations of raphy (printing from woodcuts) began in spectacles produced prior to the year 1501. the last quarter of the 14th century. Such Some were illustrations in books; others woodcuts were reproduced by inking the were made as individual prints. surface on which the images were cut and Portraits made during the lifetime of then transferring the inked image onto a a person were exceedingly rare at this time, sheet of paper. Before the invention of the and most “portraits” were actually pro- printing press, the pressure to do this was duced by the imagination of the artist rather exerted by hand. Experts have dated single than being a true likeness of the indi- sheets as early as 1418. One of the earli- vidual. The same woodblock was often used est books to be illustrated with woodcuts to print the portrait of different personali- was Fables by Ulrich Boner, printed in ties. An example is the first known printed 1461 by Pfister of Bamberg, Germany.1 image of spectacles, found in the Rudimen- Movable metal type was first used by tum Novitiorum by Lucas Brandis, printed Gutenberg in about 1450, at about the in Lu¨ beck, Germany, in 1475.4 The person same time he invented the printing press depicted was variously identified as Philo, to apply pressure with the machine. Metal Empedocles, Seneca, or Pythagoras (Cather- type and woodcut illustrations could be ine Hitchens, BA, e-mail communication, printed together in his screw press, and this December 18, 2000) (Figure 1). method was used to produce many incu- The Martyrdom of Simon of Trent nables (books printed prior to 1501). The (Figure 2) was probably produced be- invention of printing is generally as- tween 1475 and 1485, but its actual origi- sumed to have markedly increased the de- nal source is unknown. The scene de- mand for spectacles but, of interest, there picts the ritual murder of the child, Simon, are few contemporary sources to support a controversial subject for hundreds of that hypothesis.2 years following the incident. Not surpris- Spectacles had been invented in Pisa, ingly, Jews were often depicted in a de- Italy, around 1285.3 The first known il- rogatory manner in this time period. This lustration of them occurs in a mural in the print includes the Jewish ring (rota), part chapter house of San Nicolo` in Treviso, of the special form of Jewish dress in the Italy (1352), and several other murals and Middle Ages, but in this instance, a pig has oil paintings from the 14th and 15th cen- been added inside it. Exaggerated “Jew- turies depict them. In this article, we high- ish” facial features also are shown. The spectacles possibly are symbolic of a false From Ophthalmology Associates of York, York, Pa. sense of knowledge.5

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Figure 1. Rudimentum Novitiorum, Lucas Figure 3. Totentanz, 1488. A physician Brandis, 1475. First illustration of spectacles in a examines a flask of urine through eyeglasses. printed work. Laurentius, John Wycliffe, Linca der bischoff Zarara,orQuidius Naso. The second (Figure 9) shows Petrus de Bellaparrita. The same publisher produced the Buch der Cirurgia by Hieronymus Brunschwig in 1497. This contains a figure observing a surgical operation with the aid of eyeglasses (Figure 10). Finally, the print of St Mattias and St Judas Thaddaeus by Israel van Mechenem from 1497 shows the bespectacled saint reading his book (Figure 11). Although concave lenses to cor- rect myopia were available in the late 15th century,6 it was much more common for glasses to be used for reading. Presumably all literate pres- byopes, as well as many illiterate ones, would have benefited from Figure 2. The Martyrdom of Simon of Trent, ca 1475-1485. them. All of these illustrations show them being used for close work ex- In Totentanz (1488), printed in The Liber Chronicarum by Hart- cept, perhaps, for Figure 10. The ear- Heidelberg, Germany (Figure 3), mann Schedel, 1493 (published by liest spectacles comprised 2 sepa- the physician examining a flask of Anton Koberger, Nu¨ rnberg, Ger- rate lenses and frames, held together urine is employing spectacles. many), uses the same bespectacled by a rivet. The earliest illustration of Whether these are symbolic of his woodcut (Figure 6) for at least the a solid bridge is found in the paint- erudition, a caricature of false knowl- following persons: Jacob, Julius Af- ing, The Madonna With Canon van edge, or just a humorous touch can ricanus, Antisthenes, and Rasis der Paele, by Jan van Eyck (1436). only be speculated. medicus (Rhazes). These 15th-century printed illustra- La Mer des Histoires (Figure 4), Sebastian Brant produced Nar- tions show both types of bridge. The printed in Paris, France, in 1488 or renschiff (Ship of Fools) in Basel, rivet spectacle is particularly clear in 1489 by Pierre le Rouge, shows a Switzerland, in 1494. One of the il- Figure 3 and the solid bridge in Fig- scholar wearing spectacles stand- lustrations shows a bibliomaniac ure 11. Artists were prone to place ing at his desk. (Figure 7) as one of the fools. spectacles on subjects who had died Death of the Virgin, by Martin A pirated version of the Liber long before the invention of eye- Schongauer (1491) (Figure 5) Chronicarum was published in Augs- glasses. Such anachronisms can be shows a scene popular in medieval burg, Germany, by Johann Scho¨n- seen in Figures 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 11. and Renaissance art: one of the sperger in 1497. It has at least 2 Both Biblical subjects (Figure 5 and mourners employing eyeglasses to aid woodcuts with spectacles. The first Figure 11) as well as historical per- his reading. (Figure 8) is variously identified as sonages (Figures 1, 6, 8, and 9) were

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Figure 6. Liber Chronicarum, Hartmann Schedel, 1493. The same illustration was used as the portrait for several different persons in this work.

Figure 7. Ship of Fools, Sebastian Brant, 1494. This print illustrates the use of spectacles symbolically to represent foolishness.

Figure 5. A, Death of the Virgin, Martin Schongauer, 1491. B, Detail.

shown with glasses. Artists often used 1, 3-6, and 8-11), but they could also spectacles symbolically. In most of be used to imply foolishness (Fig- these portraits, they were probably ure 7), false knowledge (Figure 2), Figure 8. A pirated version of the Liber used to connote erudition (Figures or to demonize an enemy (Figure 2). Chronicarum, Johann Scho¨nsperger, 1497.

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©2002 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 09/27/2021 Over the ensuing centuries, illustrations of eyeglasses became more common, both in paintings and prints; however, their use by the artists continued to follow the sym- bolism begun in the first 5 decades of printing, as described in this article. The study of early prints and paintings depicting glasses, espe- cially if they can be dated accu- rately, is useful in understanding the evolution of spectacle frames and, occasionally, the lenses (eg, col- ored or whether used for distance or near purposes). Their anachronis- tic and symbolic uses can be a win- dow to the thinking of both the artists and their contemporary viewers.

Figure 9. A second illustration from the Liber Figure 11. St Mattias and St Judas Thaddaeus, Chronicarum, 1497. Israel van Mechenem, 1497. Submitted for publication March 8, 2002; final revision received June 25, 2002; accepted July 10, 2002. Corresponding author and re- prints: Charles E. Letocha, MD, Oph- thalmology Associates of York, 1945 Queenswood Dr, York, PA 17403 (e-mail: [email protected]).

REFERENCES

1. Glaister G. Glaister’s Glossary of the Book. 2nd ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of Cali- fornia Press; 1979:517. 2. Dreyfus J. The invention of spectacles and the advent of printing. Library (Lond). 1988;10:93- 106. 3. Rosen E. The invention of eyeglasses. J Hist Med Allied Sci. 1956;11:13-46, 183-218. 4. Ardourel J. Nuremberg Chronicle [woodcut illustration]. Ophthalmology. 2000;107:2117- Figure 10. Buch der Cirurgia, Hieronymus Brunschwig, 1497. A figure observes a surgical operation with 2118. the aid of eyeglasses. 5. Schreckenberg H. The Jews in Christian Art. New York, NY: Continuum Publishing Co; 1996:280. 6. Ilardi V. Renaissance Florence: the optical capi- Other contemporary meanings for the any interpretations done centuries af- tal of the world. J Eur Econ Hist. 1993;22:507- spectacles are certainly possible, and ter the fact are conjectural. 541.

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