“The devil is in the details,” goes the aphorism. If you look for the image of Jan van Eyck’s famous work ‘The Marriage of Arnolfini’, exhibited at the National Gallery in London, and examine it carefully, what you will find in its details is not a devil, but a “witch”. eye.” Maybe you have never noticed it until now. Or maybe yes. The fact is that one of the central elements of the composition is a piece called the “witch’s eye”, not because of its size but certainly because of the location and the relevance that the flamenco master himself wanted to give it. Usually “witch’s eye” It is called “mirror of the bank” or “mirror of the bank”.

And most importantly: although Jan van Eyck’s works date from the first half of the 15th century, in their own way they can be considered primitive security cameras.

Witch mirror? That’s it. The title has echoes of a classic Disney movie or a story by the Brothers Grimm, but the reality is less fantastical… and much more fascinating. What was once called a “witch’s mirror”, “witch’s eye” or “banker’s mirror” is actually a small, circular and convex mirror, with origins generally traced back to 15th-century Northern Europe, where van Eyck painted his work. He placed the portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife right in the middle of the room, between both members of the couple. And his distinctive design allowed him to show off his skill with the brushes.

Detail from “Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his wife” by painter Jan van Eyck.

So why this name? Precisely the same qualities that made it so attractive to Jan van Eyck: its distinctive shape, its curved and convex mirror. Its design gave it a valuable quality that was quickly appreciated by merchants who received customers interested in its products. The shape of the mirror allowed visitors to discreetly follow their movements out of the corner of their eyes, without having to look out, lift their heads, or lean forward to make sure no one was stealing their goods.

The mirror gave them a good view. The key was to place it in the right place where you could see a reflection of most of the room. Nothing else. He must have been so successful among the wealthy bourgeoisie that, as Anne-Lise Carlo recalls, Le Monde, the first name it received was “mirror of the bank”. Just like CCTV cameras, its design was an advantage wherever there was money, precious metals, jewelry or other valuable items.

Detail of Quentin Massys’s “The Money Changer and His Wife”, with the mirror in the foreground.

And superstition came. Over time, these elegant and well-designed pieces adopted other exotic-sounding names, such as “witch’s mirror” and even the much more poetic “witch’s eye.” The change is largely explained by superstition. Servants of bourgeois houses are said to have viewed with suspicion the small curved mirrors of domed glass that allowed their employers to look into places beyond the reach of their eyesight.

This is basically what remains of the myth, myth, but it is quite significant: there were those who feared that the “witch’s eyes” were always spying, and there were even those who believed that they were more than decoration and attributed magical qualities to them. In addition to expanding the viewer’s field of vision, mirrors helped spread light throughout rooms and also served to illuminate the dark recesses of the house.

From decoration to vintage fashion. Its history was not limited to the 15th century and bourgeois houses. The convex mirror was liked enough that the design continued to evolve and fine-tune. As we entered the 20th century, the “sun mirror”, that is, “floor mirror” was the name by which models decorated with gilded frames were known in France in the 1940s.

Remember also one of the most popular heirs Le Mondethese Talkative VallaurisUnmistakable in its design, it was designed by decorator and blacksmith Gilbert Poillerat. “Witch mirrors” remain popular pieces even today.

‘A goldsmith in his workshop’, by Petrus Christus.

Appreciated by artists. Maybe merchants appreciated them, but if there was a group that knew how to benefit from their unique designs, it was the painters. Jan van Eyck is a good example of this. In the Arnolfini portrait from 1434, he plays with reflection, light and angles. But there is more. This is mentioned in Petrus Christus’s work ‘A Goldsmith in His Workshop’ dated 1449; and Quentin Massys in another equally famous painting, ‘The Moneychanger and His Wife’ from 1514. Massys placed the mirror in the foreground, on the table, and its reflection shows us a window located outside the painted scene.

The ancestor of cameras? Their use and popularity have led some to consider these convex mirrors as the distant ancestors of security cameras. “The property of convex mirrors allows their owners to see the entire room. And without the need to change position or rotation. That is why they were used mainly for surveillance purposes. They used to be placed in places where most cameras are today. Surveillance, this French gallery Atena reports, is in banks and shops.’ It is called ‘the mirror of the bank’.

Although the first video cameras for surveillance purposes were not invented until the 20th century and the webcam did not emerge with primitive operation, they are not the only ones to note this connection and find similarities with modern fisheye cameras. Until 30 years ago.

Pictures | Wikipedia 1, 2 and 3

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