3-098-581 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Caesar's Coin, 1646. Biblical scene: Jesus Christ uttering the words: "Render therefore unto Cesar the things which are Cesar's; and unto God the things that are God's". The man in the yellow toga is wearing spectacles, an anachronism in a scene set in the first century AD/CE. The development of the first glasses is thought to have taken place in northern Italy in the second half of the 13th century. The earliest recorded comment on the use of lenses for optical purposes was made in 1268 by Roger Bacon.