CLAUDE LORRAIN GLASS

black convex glass used by artists to reflect the landscape in miniature and, in doing so, to merge details and reduce the strength of colour so that the artist is presented with a broad picture of the scene and a certain tonal unity. The 17th-century French landscape painter Claude Lorrain is credited with the invention of the glass, which was widely favoured by artists of the 17th and 18th centuries and is used occasionally today.