Arnaud Maillet's 'Le miroir noir' explores the history of the black mirror

In 'Le miroir noir. Enquête sur le côté obscur du reflet', Arnaud Maillet investigates the black mirror, a once-common optical instrument used by painters to isolate light intensities and enhance contrasts, reflecting the world in black and white. Published by Éditions Kargo & l'Éclat, the book traces the device's history from Claude Lorrain's 'Claude mirror'—a convex tinted mirror used for painting sunsets—through its links to 18th- and 19th-century physiological research, esoteric traditions, photography, and contemporary art. Maillet's work follows in the historiographical footsteps of Jonathan Crary, aiming to illuminate the history of vision from within the history of images. The black mirror, now largely forgotten, is presented as a key piece of evidence in understanding visual culture. The book's review by Émile Soulier notes an obsessive quality in weaving a macro-history around a single object.