Abstract: A glass material for molding an optical element and including lead and a lead compound is processed chemically and physically and includes a modificative ion component set such that an atomic concentration of the modificative ion component in a range of 600 angstroms from a glass surface layer has a concentration gradient approximated by a curve represented by the following formula (1). ##EQU1## wherein, reference numeral Y designates an atomic concentration of a modificative ion shown by atomic percent. Reference numeral X designates a depth from an uppermost glass surface layer. Each of coefficients A0 to A10 is set to a constant. Symbol 0 designates a power. Reference numeral e(x) designates an error component.