On Reflection - Hardcover

Miller, Jonathan; Mendes, Valerie D.; National Gallery (Great Britain)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300077130 ISBN 13: 9780300077131

Publisher: Natl Gallery England, 1998

Synopsis

How can we tell the difference between a reflection and the real thing? How does a reflection betray its identity? Why is it that when we look at a mirror we can see either our reflection or the mirror but not both at the same time? How and when do we learn to recognise our own reflection? What does a reflective surface look like and how can we distinguish it from a non-reflective surface? Why is it that certain paintings may be turned upside down and still be visually acceptable? How are the various qualities of reflection represented in art - from the diffuse sheen of burnished copper to the realism of silvered glass?
In this innovative book, published to accompany the exhibition Mirror Image at the National Gallery, London, Jonathan Miller discusses these puzzling questions and investigates the pictorial representation of reflection - 'sheen, shine, glimmer and gleam' - through a wonderfully varied selection of paintings and photographs, covering nine centuries, drawn from the National Gallery and other international collections.

About this title

About the Author

Jonathan Miller has held appointments in the History of Medicine at the Wellcome Institute and a Leverhulme Fellowship in Cognitive Science at the University of Sussex. He has delivered the Clark Lectures at Trinity College, Cambridge and the T. S. Eliot Lectures at the University of Kent. He is an Honorary Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, an Honorary Doctor of Literature at the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians at London and Edinburgh.

Edition details

• Publisher: Natl Gallery England
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300077130
• ISBN 13: 9780300077131
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224