Who was the first person to own a pair of glasses in the world? What was their background that allowed them to possess such glasses?
One of the first pairs of glasses in the world belonged to Pope Leo X, a member of the illustrious Medici family, who suffered from myopia. The glasses appeared in his portrait painted in the early 16th century, featuring concave lenses.
It is known that Pope Leo X, a member of the Medici nobility, was the second son of Lorenzo il Magnifico and Clarisse Orsini.
At a very young age, his parents had arranged for him to enter the clergy (at the age of 7). He quickly attained a series of positions thanks to the power and wealth of his parents: He was appointed Archbishop at just 8 years old; by the time he was not even 13, he had been assigned 27 different roles within the Church, which provided him with substantial income…
With his illustrious reputation, it is understandable that he owned one of the first pairs of glasses in the world.
A painting of a person holding glasses in Germany, 15th century. (Photo: DeAgostini).
It Took 200 Years to Conceptualize the First Pair of Glasses for Myopia
According to Live Science magazine, since the first pair of glasses was created, it has been 6 centuries. In the 13th century, Europe saw the emergence of hand-held convex lenses to correct hyperopia. However, it was not until 200 years later that glasses for myopia became available.
Before the 15th century, Neil Handley, the curator of the College of Optometrists Museum in London, noted that there was little information on how myopic individuals dealt with their condition.
Around 350 BC, Aristotle began his first observations on myopia. He noted that because the eyeball of a myopic person is too long, they can only see objects clearly at a close range, while distant objects tend to appear blurry depending on the severity of their myopia.
Thus, it took humanity 200 years from the initial concept to the birth of the first version of glasses for myopia.
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