Art Mirrors Art

My friend (the same one, with the frame-cutting skill) has sent me yet another picture, this time from the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm - of the painting by Cornelis Cornelisz. van Haarlem, The Mirror of Time (1628) I've shared it here already, but years ago, and of poor quality, so here it is, one more time:

It's oil painting on copper plate, ~ 40x50 cm It's called The Mirror of Time today (or De spiegel van de tijd in Dutch), though at the times of its creation the scene would be likely described as Vadertje Tijd (Father Time). Apparently the motif was popular as a few years later the painter created another, a bit larger (and a bit gender-swapped) version of the scene:

I suddenly realized that I never actually shared here this etching of Prudence by Hendrick Goltzius; he made it around 1600s, as a part of the series with all Christian virtues. The inscription reads:

Arcanas rerum scrutor Prudentia causas, Praeterita ancipiti vultu videoque futura.

which means:

I, Prudence, investigate the hidden causes of things; with my double face I see both the past and the future.

The design was very popular in the first half of the 17th century and was reproduced by many etchers, including Jacob Matham (whom this print is often attributed to). As with many works by Goltzius he copied, he mirrored the original:

A silver tankard (!) with Christian virtues (!!) Made in Germany around 1660s, the tankard depicts four virtues - Justice, Temperance, Prudence and Charity.

The Prudence (with mirror and snakes) borrows from the famous design by Hendrick Goltzius:

Ingel Fallstedt - Kvinna vid spegel {Woman by a Mirror} (c.1880s)

Bahram Gur and the Persian Princess in the White Pavilion, a miniature from Haft Payk by Nizami Gouache and gold on paper, ~ 15x22 cm, c. 1800s, Qajar Iran Bahram Gur, also known as Bahram V, was the legendary king who ruled Iran in 420-438. In Nizami's story, written much later, in 12th century, he marries seven princesses from the seven regions of the world and builds a different coloured pavilion for each.

The seven pavilions correspond to seven days, seven colours and seven planets. During one week he visits one princess each night, and each tells him a story.

This pavilion is White, so it's also Friday - and Venus (the name of the princess is Dorosti, or Diroste).

Which makes the black rectangle on a wall likely a mirror - of course, not the 5th-century mirror but a 19th-century wall mirror inserted into a legendary setting:

Richard Claremont - What Memory Kept (2026)