In the ancient world, mirrors made of metal or polished stone were objects of luxury, unavailable to ordinary people. Medieval technology addressed the problems of making glass flat and clear enough for larger mirrors and of applying reflective silvering, but the forerunner of the modern mirror didn't appear until about the 16th century in Venice . Louis's masterpiece, Versailles, was in every sense a triumph of image-making. The Hall of Mirrors, with its 306 reflecting panes, not only multiplied the dazzling glories of the Sun King but also announced the French technical supremacy that displaced Venice . Ms. Melchior-Bonnet, a researcher at the College de France in Paris, presents such facts with erudite relish.
Classical morality is built on the omnipresent theme of the vanities and reflection.
Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner before the mirror, incarnates both vanity and lust. Ms. Melchior-Bonnet is most animated when she is deconstructing such symbols. There's hardly a century of the world's history whose chief concerns have not in some way been expressed in relation to the mirror. It's crammed with information and interpretation. Ms. Melchior-Bonnet, a resourceful scholar and an intrepid iconographer, seems unable to resist any of her abundant evidence.