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Raree show

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A boy looks into a peep show device (illustration byTheodor Hosemann,1835)

Araree show,peep showorpeep boxis an exhibition of pictures or objects (or a combination of both), viewed through a small hole ormagnifying glass.In 17th and 18th century Europe, it was a popular form of entertainment provided by wandering showmen.

History

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Peep shows,[1]also known aspeep boxorraree show( "rarity show" ) can be traced back to theearly modern period(15th century in Europe) and are known in various cultures.

According to a 15th century Italian manuscript biography, later published by 18th century historianLudovico Antonio Muratori(1672 – 1750), the Italian humanist author, artistLeon Battista Alberti(1404 – 1472) created wonderful painted pictures exhibited inside a box with a small aperture. He had two kinds: night scenes with the moon and stars, and day scenes. It is thought these pictures may have been transparent and lit alternately from the front and from behind, with parts painted on the back causing changes in the scene. However, it has also been suggested that Alberti's box was an early imageprojector;a predecessor of themagic lantern.[2][3]

Peep show inGolestan Palace,Tehran

In the 17th and 18th century peep shows were exhibited on streets and fairs across Europe by itinerant showmen, competing with other entertainment likedancing bears,jugglers, conjurers, et cetera.[4]Their wooden cabinets could have several viewing holes and contain sets of pictures to be set into a viewing position by pulling a corresponding string. The show was accompanied by spokenrecitationthat explained or dramatized what was happening inside. The boxes were often decorated inside to resemble theatrical scenes.[citation needed]

Peep shows were most popular in the 17th century in Holland.[5]Some artists from the 17th-centuryDutch Golden Age painting,likePieter Janssens ElingaandSamuel Dirksz van Hoogstratencreated a type of peep shows with an illusion of depth perception by manipulating the perspective of the view seen inside, usually the interior of a room. From around 1700 many of these "perspective boxes" or "optica" had a bi-convex lens with a large diameter and small dioptre for an exaggerated perspective, giving a stronger illusion of depth. Most pictures showed architectural and topographical subjects with linear perspectives.[6][7]From around 1745 similar perspective view prints became very popular for thezograscope,which used the same principle with the lens on a stand rather than in a box. Peep shows were further developed with translucent painting techniques, perforations and cut-out shapes that provided special effects when lit from behind by candles. Changing the light from the front to the back of the picture could change the scene from day to night, much like thedissolving viewsthat would later become a popular type of magic lantern show.[6]

In the early 18th century perspective boxes (called megane in japanese ( mắt kính ) and inspired the art ofMegane-e) were very appreciated in Japan, where they were referred to asHolland machines( cùng lan mắt kính,Oranda megane,more accurately holland glasses).[4]The Dutch brought the first such device to Japan in the 1640s as a gift to theshōgun,but the devices became popular only after the Chinese popularized them[8]about 1758,[9]after which they began to influence Japanese artists.[8][10]

Engraving of a drawing of a Chinese peep show by 'Pu-Qua( bồ oa )' of Canton engraved by Dadley, published May 4, 1799 by W. Miller, Old Bond Street, London

19th-century Chinese peep shows were known by many names includingla yang p'ien(Chinese:Phim đèn chiếu;pinyin:lā yáng piān;lit.'pulling foreign picture cards'). Sometimes the showman would perform for a crowd withpuppetsorpicturesoutside the box and then charge people extra to look through the holes. InOttoman Syriaa form of peep show calledsanduk al-ajayib(صندوق العجائب, "wonder box" ) existed, which the storyteller carried on his back. The box had six holes through which people could see scenes backlit by a central candle.Sanduk al-ajayibstories were about contemporary figures and events, or showed scenes of heaven and hell.[11]

Other common subjects in peep shows throughout the world have been exotic views and animals, scenes of classical drama ormasques,courtceremonies, surprise transformations (e.g., of an angel into a devil) and of course, lewd pictures.[citation needed]

Raree shows were precursors oftoy theatres,with movable scenes and paper figurines, popular in the 19th century. They can also be seen as predecessors tooptical toyslikeChinese fireworks,thediorama,thestereoscopeand themagic lantern.[3]

Some peep shows offer the only accurate representation of the stage design and scenery of themasquesand pageants of their time.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Thomas Weynants,"From the Rarekiek, 17th. & 18th. Century optical entertainment, to the birth of Television"
  2. ^"Camera Obscura - Encyclopedia".
  3. ^abc"Peep show - children's toy".britannica.
  4. ^abBalzer, Richard."Dick Balzer's Website: Peepshows".dickbalzer.
  5. ^"Peep-show box - Oxford Reference".oxfordreference.
  6. ^ab"Peepshow".visual-media.eu.
  7. ^Wagenaar; Duller; Wagenaar-Fischer.Dutch Perspectives.
  8. ^abLeibsohn, Dana; Peterson, Jeanette Favrot (2012).Seeing Across Cultures in the Early Modern World.Ashgate Publishing. p. 45.ISBN978-1-4094-1189-5.
  9. ^Fujii, Shigeru (2004)."Mắt kính hội".Mắt ngọc の nói thảo.Bungeisha. p. 81.ISBN978-4-8355-4803-6.
  10. ^"Full text of" Toward A Student Based Approach To Translation Teaching "".archive.org.
  11. ^* Mair, Victor H.Painting and Performance: Chinese Picture Recitation and its Indian Genesis.Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1988.
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