The firt painting with glasses

The fresco is one of the several works in the Chapter house. It represents a series of monks, the most important and meaningful part is the one in which, for the first time, appears a figure with glasses. He is a dominican cardinal, the French Hugues de Saint-Cher. He was born in 1200, appointed cardinal in 1244 and died in 1263 at the papal court in Orvieto. He was the first Dominican to be appointed cardinal and he lived exactly in the century in which glasses were invented. Nobody knows when or where glasses were created, but it’s possible, that they appeared in the XIII century and lots of people support the idea, that they were designed in Venice, at the edge of its power. The portrait  is now exactly where it was painted 650 years ago, in the Chapter House of the Saint Nicolò’s convent in Treviso.  
The author is Tomaso from Modena. He was born in 1326 and died in 1379. He wanted his figure to seem real. As a matter of fact the realism is a very important feature, for example he painted figure with the unkempt beard, and this because he was trying to give a psychological meaning to the characters.
 The one who is potrayed in this extract of the fresco, is indeed depicted with glasses, concentreted in writing. The colours, that are really important, are of different graduation of red, and their goal is to give a depth and to make the fresco more realistc. This realism is possible because of the physiognomy of the face, that are probably potrayed in real life