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Three reading aids painted by Tomaso da Modena in the chapter house of San Nicolò Monastery in Treviso, Italy

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Abstract

In 1352 the artist Tomaso da Modena depicted three monks with reading aids in the chapter house of San Nicolò Monastery. One of them is wearing rivet spectacles, the second is using a reading glass, and the third has a reading glass on a stand. These rivet spectacles are often quoted in the literature as the first pictorial representation of spectacles, while the reading glass was found in only one reference in the literature with only one illustration, and the reading glass with stand was not found at all.

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References

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  4. Greeff describes a decorative twisted handle. This ornamentation is now no longer visible, presumably as the result of restoration work.

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  1. University Eye Clinic, A-6020, Innsbruck, Austria

    F. Daxecker

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  1. F. Daxecker
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Daxecker, F. Three reading aids painted by Tomaso da Modena in the chapter house of San Nicolò Monastery in Treviso, Italy. Doc Ophthalmol 99, 219–223 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1002612723744

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