Spiegel des Papstes – Google Docs
Spiegel des Papstes
Legend has it that this gilded silver-backed mirror was the first owned by a Pope (Gregory XVI, reign 1831-1846). Pope Gregory was an interesting fellow who probably would have been happier to be pope a century or two earlier; a large portion of his tenure involved dealing with the mid-19th Century’s various technological and social innovations, typically with a highly jaundiced eye and disapproving mien (Gregory was not even particularly fond of things like railroads or gas lighting). He would probably be horrified to hear that today the Spiegel des Papstes is widely (for literally esoteric values of ‘widely’) considered to be a magical item; after all, from Gregory’s point of view it was merely an item given miraculous powers by long exposure to the Vatican.