The magic lantern was the first optical instrument for projecting transparent images, commonly designated as magic lantern slides and was used for diverse purposes, from arts to scientific and religious education, entertainment, and advertisement. A selection of 20 painted glass slides from the Science Museum of the University of Coimbra attributed to the 18th and 19th c. was studied for the first time. Our research covers their historical background, conservation state of glass and painting materials and the preliminary results obtained through a multi-analytical characterisation of materials and painting techniques applied to these fascinating objects.
Santos et al. (Sun,) studied this question.