People must have been pretty silly looking before eyeglasses were invented. I imagine cavemen bumping into dinosaurs thinking they are just really big walls. So when were eyeglasses invented? I mean, somebody must have thought that the world would be a more efficient place if everyone could see. In the land of the blind, the man who invents eyeglasses is king!
According to the most experienced historians in the world, the first forms of glasses were made by the monks in Italy. This was way before the invention of pizza, in the 1200s. But they didn’t have the wide variety of high-quality materials that are used today. The lenses, made from magnifying glasses, were set into bone, metal, or leather that could be balanced on people’s noses. From then on, people would have an easier time reading, and avoiding walking into walls.
It would be around 150 years later, in the year 1352, when eyeglasses would become fashionable. That is when Italian artist, Tommasa de Modena was inspired to paint a series of frescoes that featured monks wearing glasses. Many other inspired Italian artists began painting people wearing eyeglasses, including Crivelli, who painted Hugh of St. Cher where it he shown at his writing desk wearing a pair of rivet spectacles that appear to stay in place on the nose without additional support.
Because eyeglasses were so new and fresh, many people considered them to be a fashion statement. People who wore the bone frames were known to be wise and educated. But to people today, those people seemed to look primitive. Most of the early eyeglasses looked like little masks, or goggles, compared to today’s fashionable frames sold on Marveloptics.com. This just goes to show you that eyeglasses have come a long way in the fashion realm.
The 1200s were a long time ago, and since then glasses have evolved to become an everyday piece of wardrobe for people around the country. Along with being able to have perfect vision, a person can buy a different pair of eyeglasses for each day of the week, giving them a fresh look each day. We have come a long time since Monks invented eyeglasses. If not for them, we would still be bumping around into random objects.