Nostradamus's Magic Mirror. Nostradamus (at right, 1503-1566) was a French physician and astrologer. Here he is using a magic mirror to foretell the future to Catherine de Medicis (1519-1589), Queen of France (at left). The Queen read Nostrodamus's almanacs in 1555, and summoned him to Paris to explain the hints of threats to the royal family. One story says that Nostradamus used a magic mirror to show a series of kings (right) who were deposed by Jesuits (left). This illusion could have been achieved by reflection off another mirror, though it is unlikely that Nostradamus ever used such a 'magic mirror'. Nostradamus later become physician and counsellor to the French royal family. Artwork from The Picture Magazine (volume 111, London, 1894).