DM,thanks for the idea,cant remember for sure,but i think i plugged in jesuits,light,shadow,art,
and found this,so maybe your right,we just dont know what to call it,to find the info
JMO,i think it is, in the realm of possibility,that someone may have,read up on this,and had an idea.
im just not sure how that someone,jumped to shadow sign,maybe a discussion around a camp fire
and joe talked about their shadows,being displayed from the camp fire,and bob says i read about
a device......could the development of shadow sign have been that simple
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Athanasius Kircher,wrote,and sketched about a device,made by Giovanni Fontana,the inventor of what was later called the magic lantern
In 1646, Kircher published Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae, on the subject of the display of images on a screen using an apparatus similar to the magic lantern as developed by Christiaan Huygens and others. Kircher described the construction of a "catotrophic lamp" that used reflection to project images on the wall of a darkened room. Although Kircher did not invent the device, he made improvements over previous models, and suggested methods by which exhibitors could use his device. Much of the significance of his work arises from Kircher's rational approach towards the demystification of projected images.[18] Previously such images had been used in Europe to mimic supernatural appearances (Kircher himself cites the use of displayed images by the rabbis in the court of King Solomon). Kircher stressed that exhibitors should take great care to inform spectators that such images were purely naturalistic, and not magical in origin.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_Kircher
more on the magic lantern
History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_lantern
Athanasius Kircher sketch
http://www.stanford.edu/group/kircher/cgi-bin/site/?attachment_id=555
A selection of images from works by and related to Athanasius Kircher
http://www.stanford.edu/group/kircher/cgi-bin/site/?page_id=517
Athanasius Kircher
Born
2 May 1601 or 1602
Geisa, Abbacy of Fulda
Died
27 November or 28 November 1680
Rome
Nationality
German
Religion
Roman Catholicism (Jesuit scientist-priest)[1]