This master’s thesis examines the role and symbolism of the mirror in Renaissance painting,
combining technical and iconographic approaches. It explores how artists employed the
mirror as an optical device to study perspective as well as how it functioned as a symbol of
truth, wisdom, transience, virtues, vices, and artistic virtuosity. The analysis of art treatises
reveals that the mirror became a metaphor for painting itself, as it, like the artist, imitates
nature and produces optical illusions. The iconographic overview includes examples where
the mirror appears within Marian iconography, as an emblematic symbol of moral judgement,
and as an allegorical element associated with virtues or vices. The thesis demonstrates that, in
Renaissance art, the mirror operated both as a practical tool in the artistic process, as a visual
element for achieving illusionistic effects, and as a bearer of rich symbolic and allegorical
traditions.
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