While not poor, the family hardly seems to have been wealthy--more affluent than poor, however.

Cardano (1501-1576), a professor of mathematics and a physician, published in his book 'De Subtilitate Libri' his makings of a camera obscura with a diverting spectacle and a very graphic description of darkroom pictures and their appearances. Cardano appears also to have initiated the use of a convex lens in the aperture. Cardano was a showman, and projected wild scenes of the outdoors along with appropriate sound effects to audiences with his camera obscura. In 1570, Cardano was accused of heresy, jailed, and lost his right to publish books.