Sacred Spectacles? Eyeglasses, Iconography and the Holy Body

In the Middle Ages, sight loss-as signified by the wearing of spectacles-was used to indicate one of two things. On the one hand, the inclusion of spectacles in visual sources could signify that an individual had developed an ocular impairment as a result of their reading and writing of holy texts. On the other hand, spectacles could act as a visual indication that their wearer had damaged their sight by engaging in inappropriate behaviours. This chapter will investigate why, if sight loss could be considered to be a negative attribute within medieval Christian¬ity, saints were so frequently depicted as having visual disabilities that required the use of spectacles.