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Girolamo or Hieronimo Cardano (1501–1576) was an Italian physician and mathematician who has been described by Cajori, the mathematical historian, as “a singular mixture of genius, folly, self-conceit and mysticism.” He lectured in medicine at the Universities of Milan, Paris and Bologna. In 1571, after having been, according to some, jailed for debt the year before, he was pensioned by the Pope and went to Rome to continue special work in medicine.

Cardano’s contribution to motion picture pre-history was made in his De Subtilitate, published at Nuremberg in 1550. He showed how a concave mirror could be used to produce quite a wonderful show:—“If you wish to see what is happening on the street, put a small round glass at the window when the sun is bright and after the window has been shut one can see dim images on the opposite wall.” He went on to explain how the images could be doubled, then quadrupled and how other strange appearances of things and one’s self could be devised with a concave mirror. He remarked that the images appeared upside down. This, of course, is another description of the camera obscura, with a few additional points for recreational and instructional purposes. It will be noted that Cardano’s description is very like those of Bacon, Leonardo and Cesariano.