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Albert Beck Wenzell - The Argument (c.1910s)

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This is an interesting panel. Known as the Medici Madonna, it doesn’t have mirrors in the usual sense, but it does include two objects with reflective surfaces.

The panel was painted soon after Rogier van der Weyden returned from Italy in 1450, and it was commissioned by the Medici family (which is where the name comes from).

The Saints painted here are Cosmas and Damian - Arab twin brothers who were doctors, converted to Christianity at some point, martyred, and soon recognized as saints. They are considered patrons of medicine, and were also patrons of the Medici family, which explains why they appear in this panel (this type of religious scenes is known as sacra conversazione (sacred conversation), and was widespread in Italy, but not in Northern Europe back then).

The first reflection we see is in the polished brass jar standing beneath Mary’s feet. The surface is now slightly worn, but I imagine it was once crystal clear, similar to many reflective details in other panels by Flemish masters. In many of them we can recognize real buildings or interiors, and it's possible this one once showed something specific, now lost to time.

The second object is quite peculiar: it's a glass container filled with urine, used for medical diagnosis over many centuries. It’s not unusual to show the saints - at least one of them - with a jar like this, but I don't recall any other painting where the urine would be shown so realistically, and placed in such proximity to the otherwise ‘pure’ Mary.

Rogier van der Weyden - Madonna and Child with Saints. 1453 - 1460

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Rebecca Foster-Clarke - Seeing Red (2023) I found the picture showing the scale of this painting irl

seeing red by rebecca foster-clarke, 2023, oil on canvas, 20 x 30 inches

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Matsuyama Miyabi - 葉落ちて天下の秋を知る (ichi yō ochite tenka no aki o shiru) = "A single leaf falls, and one knows the autumn of the world" (2023) One more 'mirror' of this Japanese artist:

Matsuyama Miyabi

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I’ve written before that postcards with “art mirrors” have become an important source of such artworks for me — I often receive them via Postcrossing or from my pen pals. They are often quite surprising and I can't imagine finding them otherwise, especially the examples of so called “low art.”

This one came yesterday from my long-time pen pal in Cologne, Germany - also the home of photographer Aglaia Risch. It's her famous Self-portrait with a Hand-held Mirror (c. 1980).

I knew the photo and that it’s a best-selling postcard, but I didn’t have it — until now :)

Here’s another of her earlier mirror self-portraits:

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Sebastião Salgado - Luísa, daughter of Moisés Piyãko Asháninka, paints herself in the mirror (Kampa do Rio Amônea Indigenous Territory, State of Acre, Brasil 2016) R.I.P. Sebastião Salgado

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Louis de Boullogne - Armida and Rinaldo (1704), and detail with a mirror

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This is one of the funniest depictions of the Rinaldo and Armida story I know—mirror-wise, that is.

The painting is by the Dutch master Willem van Mieris, son of the better-known Frans van Mieris the Elder. It’s titled Armida Binding the Sleeping Rinaldo with Flowers (c. 1710s).

However, in this case the task of handling the enchanted mirror is delegated to… a mermaid (or perhaps a melusine, as the setting appears to be a river). A curious interlacing of two entirely different "use cases" of magical mirrors.

However, the dealing with this enchaining mirror is delegated to.. the mermaid! (or maybe it's melusine since it seems to be a river) A very funny interlacing of two completely different 'use cases' of magical mirrors:

I once wrote about the mirrors of mermaids, melusines, and other fantastical creatures - though that was a long time ago, and many image links are now broken, making the post look rather "toothless."

In any case, here are the links. Hopefully, I’ll fix them soon. Mirror with a (Fish) Tail The Tale of Two Tails, or the Mirror & Melusine

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Maybe it’s worth sharing another famous series by (this time really) Giovanni Battista Tiepolo dedicated to the story of Rinaldo and Armida. These aren’t paintings but rather large frescoes, currently on display in the Villa Valmarana ai Nani in the town of Vicenza, Italy The one above is Rinaldo and Armida in the Enchanted Garden, Secretly Observed by Ubaldo and Carlo (c. 1757). Here, Rinaldo is still under Armida’s spell - or more precisely, under the influence of her magic mirror. The next scene shows the moment when his two companions manage to awaken him, using their polished shields to show him his "true" reflection - his truest self, thus snapping him out of the illusion:

Finally, in the last fresco, Rinaldo escapes from the island of Armida, escorted by Ubaldo and Carlo:

The enchantment is broken, the spell of the mirror shattered, and Rinaldo - now awakened - leaves behind the sorceress and returns to the business of 'liberating' Jerusalem.

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Found this interesting drawing of Rinaldo and Armida (and the famous mirror of the sorceress) by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - though I found it not without some bemusement.

I’ve actually studied the iconography of R&A’s mirrors quite intently; the post about their adventures, and the role mirrors played in the story was one of the earliest in my ‘serious’ AMA blog. It’s still online (though I now think it's a bit naive) - A & R, or the Mirrors of Myth(-Making).

AND I also studied the mirror works of this Italian Baroque painter - and I don’t recall seeing any composition that matches this sketch. (In fact, I shared both of Tiepolo’s most famous Rinaldo and Armida paintings when I discussed Jesse Mockrin’s re-appropriations - as you could see, they are somewhat similar to this drawing but not quite.)

It's only after a rather convoluted search I realized that the drawing isn’t by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, but by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo- his son, who also became a painter.

While looking around, I quickly came across another drawing—this time of a completely different heroine, though also with a mirror: Allegory of Prudence (also c. 1780s):

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Guido Mauas - Violeta In the afternoon (2020)

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Guido Mauas - Strange Days (2021)

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Guido Mauas - Portrait of my friend Erika (2022)

Erika, Guido Mauas

Portrait of my friend Erika, oil on panel, 30x40 cm

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Erika/688433/3969190/view

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Sasha Robinson - The Mirror (2016)

The Mirror, Sasha Robinson

Lovers? Well, they will come and will go. ― Marilyn Monroe Collection «SEREBRO». «The Mirror» is part of a brand new series of «SEREBRO». Artworks that discovers comtemporary relationships of man and woman. Oil painting, Canvas One of a kind artwork Size: 100 × 80 × 2 cm (unframed) This artwork is sold unframed The drawing is titled and signed on the back and also comes with a certificate of authenticity. The work will be shipped by Russian Post, rolled in a strong tube and should arrive within 7-10 days after dispatch. Full tracked. Thanks for looking!

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-The-Mirror/395538/3106305/view

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Delphin Enjolras - Le Kimono japonais (c.1910s)

Delphin Enjolras (French, 1865-1945)

Le Kimono japonais

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François-Guillaume Ménageot - Young mother (said to be Madame Danloux) nursing her child (c.1800s)

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Workshop of the Velins du Roi, Paris - Rinaldo and Armida (c.1720) It's a very small piece (14 x 21 cm), also made in a fairly exotic way, oil on vellum. It is intended to mimic old manuscripts in technique, though stylistically it's influenced by the works of Antoine Coypel, the court painter of Louis XV and director of the Académie Royale. For such a small artwork, it shows an impressively detailed reflection of Rinaldo's face in the famous mirror of Armida: