Magic flashlight slide

Magic flashlight slide

[1875-1900]

Author unknown

The Magic Lantern is a forerunner of film or slide projectors, invented in the mid-18th century that evolved and lasted until the beginning of cinema. The device consisted of a box inside which there was a light spotlight and lenses that allowed images to be projected fixed on glass. This widget, considered the most direct precedent of the film projector, was called the magic lantern because the spectators of the time did not know its technical secrets and attributed its effects to magic. In a certain way, the magic lantern is like a photo magnifier.

In this case, there are two glass plates – one fixed and the other mobile – in a wooden frame. The action occurs by moving the moving plate sideways along the frame. The character in the drawing is represented on the fixed plate and the illusion of movement is generated by masking certain parts of the image with the moving plate, which had certain parts painted black to camouflage itself with the background of the fixed plate. In the case of the Museum piece, there is a gentleman sitting on a stool, with his hands in his pockets. His nose and chin grow and, above his nose, there is a monkey.

The slide entered the Museum in 2012, when the Club Joventut Badalona, ​​then owner of the Can Mora farmhouse, found this piece and some photographic utensils in a corner of the farmhouse and donated it to the Museum.

 

Material: Hand painted wood and glass Dimensions: 11 x 26,5 x 1,5 cm Ref.: MB inv. 14859

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