Mirrors The commercial revolution brought new consumer goods into Europe, including exotic materials such as African ivory, here made into an intricately carved mirror case showing a knight honoring his lady while a groom holds his horses, created for a wealthy customer. More ordinary people used mirrors as well, as seen in this wooden carving of a woman admiring herself in a mirror (right). The carving, called a misericord, decorated the underside of the seat in a choir stall in a church in Beauvais, France. Secular scenes of everyday life were often shown in misericords, but the carving may also represent the sin of vanity, often symbolized by a woman holding a mirror.
(ivory: © V & A Images/Alamy Stock Photo; woman: Musée national du Moyen Âge–Thermes et hôtel de Cluny/© RMN–Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY)