Chapter 2 Matter as a Mirror: Marsilio Ficino and Renaissance ...

Matter as a Mirror 109
reflection, transformation, and retention because it illustrates how images
are captured by a reflecting surface. The concept that structures the story of
the bloody mirror underscores several crucial assumptions, one of which is
that vision entails the exchange of material particles: to see means to enter in
contact with the perceived object. Sixteenth-century medical treatises on fascination,
a genre emerging around the year 1500, emphasize women’s natural
capacities to fascinate and to infect through their dangerous menses, by polluting
the air: children conceived during the menstrual period are prone to
suffer from leprosy, epilepsy, or to become monsters. 182
The story of the bloody mirror was one of the most famous and
frequently cited testimonies for occult phenomena such as infection, fascination,
or evil eye during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. 183 The
special appeal of the bloody mirror can be attributed to at least three different
factors. First, its reflecting surface functions as a scientific optical tool,
which (like a magnifying glass) enhances the human capacity for perception,
thus uncovering the material principles of occult phenomena that otherwise
would pass unnoticed. 184 Second, the mirror is a receptacle that retains the
blood emitted from the woman’s eye. And third, the bloody mirror accounts
for otherwise inexplicable phenomena that may be seen as the “imposition
of a higher form onto a lower passive material.” This story explains not only
how divine or diabolic images may enter the mind, but also how one may be
infected with a contagious disease through the gaze of an infectious person
(the evil eye): 185 to see means to enter into contact with the perceived object.
In accordance with that, a sixteenth-century Spanish physician reports that a
man was able to break a mirror just by the demonic power of his eyesight. 186
182 On this see the excellent paper by Cabré (1998) passim, esp. 61–65 with references
to works in Spain during the first third of the sixteenth century. On infected air, see chapter
four of the present study.
183 Kovach (1980) 173–175, with references, 209–211, 211 n. 117; Cabré (1998) 59.
184 In that sense, during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance the noun “mirror” was
a signifier for optical tools in general, such as magnifying lenses, crystal bowls used for
divination, or burning glasses.
185 It is interesting to note that mirrors worn around the neck were used as (illicit)
charms to ward off infection from the evil eye; see Cabré (1998) 56. This practice confirms
the popularity of the idea that (some) mirrors have the capacity to contain or to absorb
the images they reflect.
186 Cabré (1998) 60.