Chapter 2 - Armorial Mirrors

Summary

Centred on the celebrated inset mirror of the Arnolfini double portrait, the chapter considers the rich evidence of fifteenth-century Flemish painting’s depictions of inset mirrors and the larger cultural histories that pertain to them, including the early Renaissance guilds that governed their artistic production. It highlights the relationship between painting and the heraldic arts of the period, comprising lustrous armorial metalwork alongside glass mirror manufacture, to suggest a broader context of reflective arts surrounding the representation of mirrors in painting.