Bernardo Strozzi - Vanitas (Old Coquette), circa 1637

high-res

Source: reddit.com

Carved and gilt mirror frame.

Holes in the base molding, now plugged, evidently held hooks for hanging combs and brushes. Mirror frames of this type must have been common at one time, though surviving examples are relatively rare. 

Early 16th century, Venice

Source: metmuseum.org

Lucas Furtenagel - The Painter Hans Burgkmair and His Wife Anna (1527)

Limewood, 60 x 52 cm

Kunsthistorisches Museum, Gemaeldegalerie, Vienna

- written on the side of the mirror’s frame: “Erken dich selbst” “Know thyself”

- written on the front side: “O, mors” “Oh, Mores”

- written on the handle: “Hoffnung für die Welt?” “Hope of the world”

“Sollche Gestalt unser baider was. Im Spiegel nix aber das dan”

“Such was the Form (Shape) of us. But in the Mirror, nothing left of it”

Source: Flickr / centralasian

The ALEPH mirror of one Jan van Eyck, the genius. The mirror is the focal point of the whole composition. It has often been noted that two tiny figures can be seen reflected in it, their image captured as they cross the threshold of the room. They are the painter himself and a young man, perhaps arriving to act as witnesses to the marriage. The essential point, however, is the fact that the convex mirror is able to absorb and reflect in a single image both the floor and the ceiling of the room, as well as the sky and the garden outside, both of which are otherwise barely visible through the side window. The mirror thus acts as a sort of hole in the texture of space. It sucks the entire visual world into itself, transforming it into a representation. image: The Arnolfini Portrait, also known as The Arnolfini Wedding, The Arnolfini Marriage, The Arnolfini Double Portrait or the Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, among other titles. The painting is a small full-length double portrait, which is believed to represent the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, presumably in their home in the Flemish city of Bruges. It is considered one of the most original and complex paintings in Western art history.
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The ALEPH mirror of one Jan van Eyck, the genius.

The mirror is the focal point of the whole composition. It has often been noted that two tiny figures can be seen reflected in it, their image captured as they cross the threshold of the room. They are the painter himself and a young man, perhaps arriving to act as witnesses to the marriage.

The essential point, however, is the fact that the convex mirror is able to absorb and reflect in a single image both the floor and the ceiling of the room, as well as the sky and the garden outside, both of which are otherwise barely visible through the side window. The mirror thus acts as a sort of hole in the texture of space. It sucks the entire visual world into itself, transforming it into a representation.

image: The Arnolfini Portrait, also known as The Arnolfini Wedding, The Arnolfini Marriage, The Arnolfini Double Portrait or the Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his Wife, among other titles. The painting is a small full-length double portrait, which is believed to represent the Italian merchant Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini and his wife, presumably in their home in the Flemish city of Bruges. It is considered one of the most original and complex paintings in Western art history.

Source: wga.hu