House Looking Glass c. 1940

Emilio Zito crafted this drawing, House Looking Glass, with ink, graphite, and watercolor. Note the house rendered atop the mirror. Houses, historically, represent not just shelter, but the self. Consider the Renaissance concept of the domus, the home as a microcosm reflecting the larger world. This house, crowned with what seems to be smoke, bears a striking resemblance to the human skull—a memento mori. The mirror, positioned below, invites the viewer to reflect on their own mortality. Mirrors, since antiquity, have been associated with self-awareness and truth, but also vanity. A mirror, like the Greek myth of Narcissus, draws us into a deeper exploration of identity, and confronts us with the transient nature of life.