Tradition names Alessandro della Spina, a friar, as spreading the invention, but the first maker is unknown
Plate 037
c. 1286
Northern Italy (Pisa or Florence)
No photograph is shown for this exhibition. The museum displays an image only where it can show the object honestly.
About this date
A sermon by Giordano da Pisa in 1306 says spectacles had been invented about twenty years earlier. The inventor is not named for certain.
About credit
The inventor is unknown. Earlier magnifying “reading stones” existed, but wearable frames with lenses appeared in Italy in the late 13th century.
Chapter II
The world before
Life before Eyeglasses
Reading and fine work became difficult for most people from their forties onward. Monks and scholars were affected most.
II
The human achievement
How it came about
Lens makers in northern Italy mounted convex lenses in frames. Venice became a centre for glass and lens making. Concave lenses for short-sightedness followed in the 15th century.
III
Understanding the invention
How it works
Eyeglasses, explained in two steps.
01
Step 01 of 02
A lens bends light
A convex lens brings rays together so near objects focus on the retina.
A lens bends light
Frames
IV
The transformation
What changed for humanity
Scholarship
Scholars, scribes and printers could work longer.
Craft
Fine metalwork, lacemaking and engraving were practised later in life.
They extended the years in which people could read, write, sew and engrave. Lens grinding skills also fed the invention of the telescope and microscope.
V
Before and after
Life before and after Eyeglasses
Before
Words blur and work stops.
After
A pair of lenses sharpens the text.
On larger screens, drag the divider (or use the arrow keys) to give more room to the world before or after.
VI
Its legacy
What came after
MHI 037
Eyeglasses
Beyond the collection
The Telescope and Microscope
Lens grinding led to both.
Beyond the collection
Contact lenses
Modern vision correction follows the same optical principles.
VII
Human stories
The people and the moments
Portraits of saints
The oldest known image of spectacles is a painting of 1352 by Tommaso da Modena in Treviso, showing a cardinal reading with glasses.
Where accounts differ, this museum follows the documented record and says so.
