Mirrors in Art
A dual meaning
Written by Cate Tarr, Arts Staff Writer
Illustrated by Haley Wolff, Staff Graphic Artist
Mirrors are objects often used throughout various mediums to portray vanity, and personally, I feel they radiate an eerie connotation. The first thing my brain flags when I hear the word mirror is The Evil Queen in “Snow White.” Memorable to many, she stares ominously into her reflective frame asking, “mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?” Yikes.
Artistic expression using mirrors originated long before the invention of Snow White. Dating back to The Greeks and Romans, artists used reflections in their paintings to create depth and truth (Cavanagh et al., 2008).
Throughout art history, mirrors have held unclear and even cryptic definitions. Nevertheless, two negating yet peculiarly related meanings of mirrors in art do exist: truth and corruption (Jones, 2019).
In art, mirrors support the theme of truth because it is impossible for them to evade reflecting an image of reality. This is how mirrors function. Mirrors can also be used to uphold one’s vain image of themselves; mirrors can reveal a dark extravagance, arrogance and pride (Jones, 2019).
Both the virtue of truth and the crime of corruption tell a story of revealing the uncharted (Jones, 2019). In both themes, the idea stands that something previously unknown is now available, out in the open and reflected in the mirror.
In several European paintings throughout art history, mirrors not only highlighted themes but also offered multiple perspectives. The viewer of a painting is usually restricted to seeing a piece of art from one point of view, however, by implementing a mirror into a piece, an artist can not only expose multiple angles, but also new outlooks of a painting’s subject or background (Meyers, 2021).
An example of a mirror used in art lies in The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck. Painted in 1434 and hanging in the National Gallery in London, it is the earliest recorded painting to utilize a mirror. The painting is of a wedding ceremony. Seen holding hands are the wealthy, prestigious and Italian Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami (Meyers, 2021).
What lies behind them is more meaningful than their romance: a mirror. It rests on the back wall of the room and is clearly visible to the viewer of the painting. Inside the small mirror are two wealthy men, a chandelier, and an extravagant bed (Meyers, 2021).
What the mirror does in this portrait is challenge our perspective, possibly pointing to more symbolic meaning of this matrimony. Due to the small size of the mirror, the viewer of the painting is forced to look more closely at the overall painting. But while looking closer, the viewer is rewarded with a broader understanding of the image overall (Meyers, 2021).
In the painting Girl at Mirror by Norman Rockwell, the mirror in the piece holds an entirely different significance (Howell, 2020). It amplifies darker themes surrounding the cultivation of the idea of appearance at a young age.
In the painting, a young girl sits on a small stool and stares at her reflection. Only seen in the mirror, the girl’s face etches a sad expression onto the glass. She wears a soft pout while holding a picture of a famous actress in her lap. (Howell, 2020) The mirror reveals the difficult emotions of beauty, physical looks and understanding of vanity that arise during adolescence.
Mirrors exemplify, reveal and uphold truths about the world in art, as well as challenge the audience’s perspective of art itself. Not just as an association with vanity, or dominated by The Evil Queen, mirrors instead expand a painting while also emphasizing what is already there.
Sources:
Cavanagh, Patrick. (2009, October 25). Reflections in art. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health.
Jones, Christopher. (2019, August 13). Symbols in Art: Mirrors & Reflections. Medium.
Howell, Adrienne. (2020, June 3). Mirrored Mystery: 7 Mirrors in Paintings Throughout History. The Collector.
Meyers, Jeffrey. (2021, February 28). Reflections in an artist's eye: seven great mirror-- paintings. The Article.