Magic Lantern Slides
1600s1700s1800sartcommunityfilmmakingglasshistorylightmuseumpaintingphotosstorytellingtechnologytheaterV&A museum
Magic lantern slides brought the world to life in pictures. The first lantern slides were created in the 1600s, around 200 years before photography was invented and they provided spectacular entertainment and education in the way that cinema does today. The first slides were made by painting images on to small pieces of glass and people viewed the slides by shinning candlelight or gaslight through them.
The Victoria and Albert Museum chronicles the history of magic lantern slides while sharing their collection in the video above. Learn more about the medium at MagicLanternSociety.org and at the V&A: From the Royal Albert Hall to the Victorian Home: The Many Uses of the Magic Lantern.
Plus, see a bit more of the magic in this 2016 Laterna Magica Galantee promo video from The Academy of Film and the Arts (AFA) in Belgium:
Related videos include how the V&A recreated an 18th-century Mechanical Theatre, L'homme à la tête de caoutchouc (1901) – Georges Méliès, and the roller skating scene from Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times.
Bonus: Walt Disney explains his studio's multiplane camera technology.
What does 'Auld Lang Syne' mean?
The Writer, a drawing machine automaton by Pierre Jaquet-Droz
Rion Nakaya November 12, 2013 September 16, 2019
The V&A's Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser
Rion Nakaya March 18, 2021 November 30, 2022
The Tramp meets a flower girl in City Lights
Rion Nakaya November 27, 2018 June 27, 2022
The Silver Swan, an 18th century automaton at the Bowes Museum
Rion Nakaya December 20, 2017 March 16, 2022
The roller skating scene from Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times
Rion Nakaya October 10, 2017 June 11, 2020
The Research Institute LEGO set, a V&A Object in Focus
Rion Nakaya March 3, 2022 March 3, 2022
The Exhale Bionic Chandelier: Microorganism-filled 'leaves' that 'breathe'
Rion Nakaya February 6, 2018 March 1, 2021