The images on this page include a mirror of some sort; I've included up to mid-17th century works, as there were some interesting mirrors and looking-glasses from that period.

Not only is it interesting to see how the mirror actually looked in each painting – what sort of frames and settings the glass is in – but the figures in the mirror’s reflection are also remarkable.

I have also included a few surviving mirrors, mirror frames, and mirror cases in this list as well.

• A stone mold in the shape of a hand mirror (thanks for sending this along, Adam!)
• Tang dynasty silver mirror back, eighth century China
• Kory dynasty bronze mirror back, Korea
• Cast bronze mirror, 12th century Iran
• Bronze mirror, 12th century (found in a pilgrimage-church in upper Swabia)
Ivory mirror-cases carved with scenes of courtly love. Unless otherwise specified, made in Paris. They are identified here by a description of the iconography carved on the back of the mirror-case, and by the museum accession number, if available.

I've attempted to organize them by theme, rather than by chronology, since they're all roughly from the 14th century, and I think it's more useful to compare similar examples. (See the combs linkspage for related ivory combs. Michael Camille's Medieval Art of Love is a useful guide to understanding the iconography on these mirrors.)


• Attack on the Castle of Love (Walters 71.169), 1320-1340
• Siege of the Castle of Love (Seattle 49.37), c. 1320-1350
• Siege of the Castle of Love (Louvre), 1325-1350
• Siege of the Castle of Love, (V&A A.561-1910), c. 1330-1350
• Siege of the Castle of Love (V&A 9-1872), 1350-1360
• Siege of the Castle of Love (Louvre), 1350-1370



• The court of the God of Love (Louvre), 1300-1330
• Lovers in the garden with the God of Love (V&A 221-1867), c. 1330-1350
• The God of Love (Walters 71.265), mid-14th century
• The God of Love (Walters 71.207), third quarter of the 14th century



• A couple (Tristan and Isolde?) playing chess (Cleveland 1940.1200), 14th century
• A couple playing chess (Louvre), 14th century
• A knight and a lady playing chess (V&A 803-1891), c. 1330-1340
• A couple playing chess (Walters 71.268), German, mid-14th century
• Lovers playing chess and a dispute between the sexes (Walters 71.206), mid-14th century



• A couple on horseback (Louvre), 1300-1330
• A knight and lady hunting (V&A 222-1867), c. 1330-1350
• Hawking scene (Walters 71.275), c. 1325-1350
• A couple on horseback (Louvre), 1325-1350
• The departure of a falconing party (Louvre), 1325-1350
• Hawking scene (British Museum M&ME 1856,6-23,103), 1325-75
• Falconing party (Met 41.100.160), 1350-1375



• A lady crowning her lover (V&A 217-1867), first quarter of the 14th century
• A lover crowned (Walters 71.284), c. 1300-1325
• Two valves of a mirror case with scenes of courtly love in a garden (Louvre), 1300-1330
• Scenes of courtly love (V&A 220-1867), c. 1350
• Lovers (Walters 71.193), 1340-1350
• The Castle of Love (Walters 71.167), second half of the 14th century
• The gift of the comb (Walters 71.269), Italy, 1390-1400
• The gift of the rose (Walters 71.281), Italy, 1390-1400



• The meeting (Cl. 404), 1st quarter of the 14th century



• An elopement (Walker Art Gallery M8010), c.1320



• The Fountain of Youth (Walters 71.170), c. 1330-1340



• Lovers (Walters 71.95), first quarter of the 14th century
• Four pairs of lovers (Walters 71.168), second quarter of the 14th century
• Lovers (Walters 71.97), mid-14th century
• Two lovers (Walters 71.107), Italy, c. 1410



• The Virgin and saints, Italy, first quarter of the 15th century
• Allegory of carnality, The romance of Fauvel (BNF Fr. 146, fol. 12), c. 1320
• A servant dressing a lady's hair, The Luttrell Psalter (British Library MS. Add. 42130, fol. 63r), c. 1320-1340
• Enamelled mirror cases once owned by Louis d'Anjou (before 1379)
• Round gilt-framed mirror in illustration of Iaia painting a self-portrait, De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 598, fol. 100v), beginning of the 15th century
• Gilt-bronze mirror frame with the Virgin and Child with angels and music-making putti, designed by Luca della Robbia, second quarter of the 15th century
• Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami (The Arnolfini Marriage) by Jan van Eyck, 1434
  A round convex mirror hanging on the back wall reflects not only the images of the couple, but of the artist at work and another young man as well. (The mirror frame has miniature pictures of the Stations of the Cross.)
• Left wing of the Werl Altarpiece by Robert Campin, 1438
  There is a round convex mirror hanging on the back wall.
• A goldsmith in his shop, or St. Eligius in his workshop by Petrus Christus, 1449
  The round convex mirror on the table allows us to see the street scene behind us.
• Alexander and his court, The History of Alexander the Great (BNF Fr. 49, fol. 38), second half of the 15th century
  Another round convex mirror, into which an old man (Aristotle?) gazes.
• Mirror frame in the form of the Medici ring, designed by Antonio del Pollaiolo, c. 1460-1465
• Groadain wounds Gawain's horse (BNF Fr. 112(1), fol. 107), 15th century
  A woman holds up a round mirror in a gilded frame.
• Mirror frame in painted cartapesta (papier mâché) by Neroccio de' Landi, fourth quarter of the 15th century, Siena
• Vanity in The Seven Deadly Sins by Hieronymus Bosch, 1480
  A woman fixes her headdress while looking in a mirror held by a demon.
• Memento mori: woman admires herself in a hand mirror, book of hours (British Library Yates Thompson 7, fol. 174), c. 1480
• Vanity by Hans Memling, 1485
  She is depicted nude (except for a pair of pattens) and admiring herself in a round hand-mirror.
• Diptych of Maarten Nieuwenhove by Hans Memling, 1487
  There is a round convex mirror behind Mary which reflects the back of the figures of both the Madonna and Child and Nieuwenhove, with the light coming in through the picture frames themselves.
• Misericord of a mermaid holding a mirror and hairbrush, Church of Saints Peter and Wilfrid, Ripon Minster, England, 1489-94
• Four Allegories: Prudence and Falsehood by Giovanni Bellini, 1490
  Prudence (on the left) is depicted as a nude woman holding a convex mirror.
• Agrippina the Young (fol. 78v) and Faustina the Young (fol. 84), De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 599), 15th-16th century, both hold convex mirrors.
• The Martelli Mirror, designed by Caradosso, 1495-1500
• A convex mirror at the Musée Historique de Vevey, c. 1500
• Mirror-frame, painted and gilt wood; Italian, 16th century
• Sight tapestry, 1500
  The lady holds the round mirror up to the unicorn and catches its reflection.
• Tomb of Francis II of Brittany and his Wife Marguerite de Foix by Michel Colombe, 1502-07
  Visible in this detail is the figure of Prudence looking at herself in a hand-mirror.
• Walnut mirror frame with the emblem of Alfonso d'Este, 1502-1519
• Carved walnut frame and bronze mirror, made in Italy c. 1510
• Ivory mirror case with David's message to Bathsheba, made in early 16th century Germany
• Wife (?) of Nahshon, from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, 1511-12
  The woman looks at herself in a round or oval hand-mirror.
• The Moneylender and his Wife by Quentin Massys, 1514
  A small round convex mirror rests on the table; in the reflection, we see a man (Massys himself?) reading a book, and we can see buildings and trees outside a window with stained glass panels.
• Naked Young Woman in Front of the Mirror by Giovanni Bellini, 1515
  She holds a small round mirror which seems to be backed with dark-stained wood, more clearly visible in this detail.
• Profane Love (Vanity) by Titian, c. 1515
• A round mirror hangs on a wall in the October section of the Augsburger Monatsbilder, 1520s
• Mirror frame, ca. 1530
• Miniature portrait of Marguerite d'Angoulème, 1530s
• Iron mirror with ivory and gold decorations, Ottoman Turkey, second quarter of the 16th century
• Prudence by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1559
  The figure of Prudence is at the center of this rather busy picture; she is holding up a mirror, though it seems to be a convex mirror (with the back side turned to us).
• Ebony and silver-gilt mirror frame by Wenzel Jamnitzer, Nuremberg, ca. 1568
• The Mirror-Maker, Das Ständebuch, 1568
• Mirror with inlaid hardwood frame, made in Venice in the last quarter of the 16th century
• Diane de Poitiers, c. 1590
  She is looking at herself in a rather ornate (almost baroque) gold-framed mirror.
• Martha and Mary Magdalene by Caravaggio, 1598
  Mary Magdalene holds a large convex mirror with a fancy golden frame.
• Two Women with a Mirror by Orazio Gentileschi
  One of the women holds a very plain flat square mirror.
• Venus at a Mirror by Rubens, 1615
  The mirror frame is rather dark, but seems to have small gold cherubs set into it. The mirror has bevelled edges and is a sort of oblong octagon.
• Old Woman at the Mirror by Bernardo Strozzi, 1615
  The mirror is large and rectangular, and is in a fairly plain thick frame. There seems to be a regular decoration on the surface of the glass around the edges, a series of dots.
• Allegory of Vanity by Jan Miense Molenaer, 1633
  The young lady holds a mirror in an elaborate wooden frame.
• The Penitent Magdalen by Georges de la Tour, 1638-43
  The mirror resting on the table has an elaborately-carved wooden frame.
• Woman with a Mirror by Rubens, 1640
  The woman is looking at herself in a small round hand-mirror.