Laterna Magica

Before the invention of the cinematograph by the Lumière brothers in 1895, there was already a projector that told stories: the magic lantern, which appeared in the 17th century. It operated with a candle and projected images painted on glass plates onto a wall, accompanied by an oral narration. Up to the 19th century, itinerant projectionists performed shows with it, while bourgeois families used it at home. With the rise of cinema, the magic lantern gradually fell into obscurity.

This lantern, made here by the company Lapierre Frères in the 1870s, operated with a kerosene lamp, whose smoke escaped through the chimney tube above. The glass plate was inserted into the vertical opening of the lens to project the images.