The Wondrous Glass

Pliny speaks of glass mirrors on several occasions.

In one instance he is very explicit on the subject:
Silver mirrors have come to be preferred [to bronze ones]; they were first made by Pasiteles in the period of Pompey the Great [106-48 B.C.]. But it has recently come to be believed that a more reliable reflection is given by applying a layer of gold to the back of glass.(Natural HIstory XXXIII.45.)

By the seventh century, glass seems entirely to have usurped the place of metal for mirrors. At least, Isidore of Seville tells us that "no other material is more fitting for mirrors . . ." (Etymologies XVI.16.)

Whether the mirror in the Villa of the Mysteries is a very early glass one, or whether it is an unusual silver one, its powers of reflection transcend the ordinary and venture off into a zone of allegory which we on the outside looking in are not yet equipped to comprehend.

As we attempt to understand the sometimes enigmatic world of Rome, glass certainly acts as a mirror on its art, its poetry, its observations of nature, its cults and social morés, and its networks of trade and diplomacy. The images we perceive are of a complex, many-faceted society.

And this is as it should be--for these images reflect back upon the complexities and antitheses inherent in glass itself. Even the derivation of the Latin work for glass -- "vitrum" has been much disputed by etymologists beginning with Isidore.

He tells us:
It is called glass [vitrum] because it is, with its clearness, transparent to the vision [visus]. For in other materials whatever is contained inside is hidden, whereas in glass whatever clearness or appearance is manifested on the outside,

it is the same inside, and though enclosed in a certain manner, is manifest.(Etymologies XVI.16)Thus, according to Isidore, "vitrum" comes from "videre" -- meaning "to see." Later etymologists have suggested other ideas on the subject.

One proposes the Sanskrit "vithura" -- meaning "fragile, brittle, breakable thing." Another proposes a derivation from the Latin "virere" -- meaning "to be green." Still another proposes a descent from the Sanskrit "vitrás" or "vétás" -- meaning "white, light, shining."

And so it is that wondrous glass means many things.