Reading spectacles appeared at the end of the 13th century in Italy and were first depicted in a painting by Tommaso da Modena in 1352. His frescoes show two brothers reading and copying text, one with a magnifying glass and the other with spectacles on his nose. Made in Venice, early spectacles had quartz lenses, as optical glass had not been invented, and were framed with bone, metal, or leather. This useful Italian invention soon spread to...Continue Reading