Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing

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Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing Page 51

by Laura J. Snyder


  in Muiderkring, 168–69

  optical instruments and enthusiasm of, 172

  as poet and translator, 169

  as reekenmeester to house of Orange, 167

  Rembrandt and, 171–72

  scientific interests of, 170–71

  Uylenburgh controversy and, 227, 228

  Vermeer and, 174

  Huygens, Constantijn (the younger), 103, 110, 288, 291

  Huygens, Lodwijk, 174

  Huygens family, 175

  telescopes of, 175

  hydra, 304

  Il Bamboccio (Pieter van Laer), 91

  illusionism, in Dutch painting, 137–38, 155, 157

  imaginary architecture, in Dutch painting, 155

  India, 14

  Indonesia, 14

  Inleyding tot de hooge schoole der schilderkonst (Van Hoogstraten), 89, 223–24, 233

  Inquisition, 129, 192

  insects, Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of sperm in, 279

  Instauratio magna (Bacon), 190

  Institutiones astronomicae & geographicae (Metius), 162, 219

  Instructions for Measuring (Dürer), 84

  instruments, scientific:

  invention of, 5

  see also optical instruments

  intersection (Alberti veil), 84–85, 102, 139, 298

  Italy, Papal States in, 192

  Jacobi, Heijman, 178

  James, William, 121

  James I, King of England, 63, 167, 342

  James II, King of England, 210, 291–92

  Leeuwenhoek visited by, 291

  Jan Heijndricxsz., 13

  Janssen, Sacharias, 58, 59, 60, 345

  Janssens, Abraham, 171

  Japan, 14

  Jesuit College, Vienna, 138

  Jews, in Amsterdam, 52

  John Paul II, Pope, 232

  Jonson, Ben, 169

  Jordaens, Johannes, 225, 227

  Jupiter, moons of, 5, 61, 65, 122, 262, 306

  Kalf, Willem, 106n, 212, 336

  Kant, Immanuel, 324

  Keijen, Grietje Jans van, 270

  Kepler, Johannes, 4, 6, 58, 115, 127, 134, 135, 142, 187, 237, 358

  camera obscura used by, 130–31, 357

  on structure of human eye, 140

  vision theory of, 78, 87–89, 360–61

  Keyser, Hendrik de, 19–20

  kidney, Malpighian bodies (glomeruli) of, 240

  Killigrew, Mary, 169–70

  Killigrew, Robert, 169

  Kircher, Athanasius, 7, 65, 106, 175, 248, 357, 361

  knowledge, pursuit of, 323–24

  Koninck, Philip de, 226

  Kronenburch, Willem Jansz., 270–71

  Laer, Pieter van (Il Bamboccio), 91

  lampblack, 35

  Langue, Willem de, 37–38

  lapis lazuli, 34–35

  laps, 104

  Larson, Johan, 164–65

  lathes, 104, 111–12

  lead white, 35

  learning to see, 319, 320–22

  camera obscura and, 141

  Dutch paintings and, 157

  expectations and, 120–21, 317

  Molyneux problem and, 115–17

  optical instruments and, 117–22, 157, 285–86, 312, 315, 316–17, 319, 323–25

  photography and, 284–85

  Le Brun, Pierre, 174

  Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van, 6, 10, 11–12, 19, 20, 66, 98, 157

  academic training lacked by, 233, 234

  appointed sheriffs’ chamberlain, 112–13, 165, 209, 230, 268

  as astronomer, 222

  bead lenses made by, 107–8

  birth of, 45

  cabinet of curiosity of, 135–36

  camera obscura and, 143–44

  Cartesianism and, 237

  childhood of, 46–49

  children of, 178, 179

  cloth business of, 99, 101–2, 203

  cloth trade apprenticeship of, 50, 51, 54–55, 100, 202–3

  death of, 302

  in Delft artistic circles, 165–66, 297

  elected Royal Society fellow, 288

  as executor of estates, 268–71

  as executor of Vermeer’s estate, 46, 173, 268, 271, 275–77, 281–82

  experiment diary of, 258

  Golden Head home of, 101, 177–78, 231

  Huygens and, 173–74, 233, 237, 249, 275

  knowledge of Micrographia denied by, 202, 206

  lathes used by, 111–12

  lens making by, 102, 107–8, 109–12, 114, 353

  magnifying glasses used by, 102–3

  marriage of Barbara de Meij and, see Meij, Barbara de

  marriage of Cornelia Swalmius and, 230, 278, 289, 297, 302

  mutual acquaintances of Vermeer and, 166

  observation valued over theory by, 187, 288–89

  as own experimental subject, 246–47, 248, 275

  Peter the Great’s meeting with, 292

  pictured in De Man’s Anatomy Lesson, 160

  as possible model for The Astronomer, 162–63, 325

  as possible model for The Geographer, 160, 161–63, 288

  possible nearsightedness of, 298–99

  and rejection of authority, 324

  Royal Society correspondence of, 230, 231, 232–34, 246–47, 250, 251, 254, 255–56, 258, 259, 262, 275, 277–78, 279, 280, 297, 301–2, 303, 309, 310, 313, 323

  schooling of, 48, 49

  secrecy about methods of, 260, 261–62

  as surveyor, 161–62, 222

  in trip to England, 181–82, 183, 201

  “van” added to name by, 288

  Verkolje’s portrait of, 161, 173, 288, 297–98

  Vermeer’s painting auctioned by, 276–77

  vision as preoccupation of, 310, 312

  as wine gauger for Delft, 269–70

  Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van, microscopic investigations of, 287–88, 289–90, 292–93, 301–2

  affidavits on microscopic life produced by, 262–63

  Anguillula (vinegar eels) investigated by, 258–59

  bacteria discovered by, 257

  blood corpuscles discovered by, 248–49

  difficulty in reproducing results of, 249–50, 262–66

  dissection skills of, 313–14

  dragonfly eye dissected by, 141

  eyes of insects and animals studied by, 114–15, 293, 309, 313

  first microscopic examinations of, 181–82, 183, 222, 251

  generation (reproduction) investigated by, 121, 245, 259, 277–81, 291, 293, 314

  lice studied by, 246–47

  measurement accuracy of, 300

  microorganisms discovered by, 251–66, 315

  microscopes made by, 1–2, 11, 12, 108–9, 114, 117, 181–82, 222, 230, 246, 250, 260, 293, 294, 302, 307, 310, 319, 373

  observation techniques of, 294–95, 313

  optic nerve studied by, 250–51, 309, 313

  repeated observations in, 300–301, 309–10, 317–18

  semen and sperm studied by, 121, 277–81, 291, 293, 317

  solar microscopes possibly used by, 295–97

  specimen preparation by, 299–300

  of tadpoles, 292–93

  of tooth plaque, 287–88, 289–90

  of wine, 269–70

  Leeuwenhoek, Catharina, 181, 182

  Leeuwenhoek, Grietge, see Berch, Magriete “Grietge” Jacobs. van der

  Leeuwenhoek, Huijch Thonisz., 45

  Leeuwenhoek, Margriete, 48, 160, 181

  Leeuwenhoek, Maria van, 102, 178, 181, 269, 289, 302, 332

  Leeuwenhoek, Philips Thonisz., 45

  as basket maker, 46

  marriage of Grietge and, 45, 46, 47

  Leeuwenhoek, Thonis Philipsz., 45

  Leeuwenhoek family, possible Catholicism of, 48–49

  Leibniz, Gottfried, 63, 207, 288–89

  Leiden, 107, 171, 238, 239

  Lely, Peter, 195, 200, 234, 325

  lenses:

  art and, 10–11r />
  in camera obscura, 127–28, 133–34

  chromatic aberration of, 205, 206

  concave, 57, 58, 61, 90

  convex, 10–11, 55, 56–57, 61, 102–3, 127–28

  depth of field and, 150

  double-concave, 92, 97

  inherent optical problems of, 119–20

  optical aberration of, 206

  spherical aberration of, 150

  Vermeer and, 2

  see also magnifying glasses; microscopes; spectacles; telescopes

  lens making:

  Delft as center for, 103

  Dutch enthusiasm for, 103

  English enthusiasm for, 104

  from glass beads, 106–8

  glass quality and, 105

  laps in, 104

  lathes in, 104, 111–12

  by Leeuwenhoek, 1–2, 102, 107–8, 109–12, 114, 353

  Leonardo da Vinci, ix, 9, 82–83, 90, 139, 140, 146–47, 149, 157, 318, 321, 349–50

  Letters of a Portuguese Nun (Howell), 234

  Leyster, Judith, 93–94

  Young Woman with a Lute, 94

  L’Homme (Descartes), 237

  liberal art, painting as, 80

  lice, Leeuwenhoek’s experiments with, 246–47

  Liedtke, Walter, 215

  Liège, 17

  Lievens, Jan, 171–72, 174

  light, as both wave and particle, 264–65

  Lingelbach, Johan, 226

  Linnaeus, Carl, 304

  Lippershey, Hans, 59

  Locke, John, 115–16, 117, 196, 266, 317

  locum obscurum (dark place), 126

  logic, observation vs., 187–89, 191, 200, 238, 288

  London:

  Great Fire of, 183, 264

  Great Plague of, 183

  Loo, Carle van, 72

  Diana and Her Nymphs, 72

  Loo, Jacob van, 29

  Lorraine, Claude, 91

  Louis XIII, King of France, 167

  Louis XIV, King of France, 208, 211

  Love Letters between a Nobleman and His Sister (Behn), 234

  Lower, William, 9, 60

  Lucretius, 237

  Lyncean Academy, Florence, 5

  Maas River, 20

  Maertje Jans., 13

  Maes, Nicolaes, 178, 220

  Magia naturalis (Della Porta), 90–91, 105–6, 129–30, 133, 344

  Magia universalis (Schott), 132

  magnifying glasses, 10, 102–3

  artists’ use of, 10–11

  in cloth trade, 55

  history of, 55–56

  maidservants, Dutch view of, 96–97

  Makeblijde, Lodewijk, 39

  Malpighi, Marcello, 206, 237, 238, 279

  chick embryos studied by, 241–42, 243

  dissections by, 238, 239

  microscopic studies of, 235, 239–42, 249

  silkworm studies of, 240–41

  Man, Anthoni Cornelis de, 161

  Man, Cornelis de, 166, 271, 282, 297–98

  Anatomy Lesson of Cornelis Isaaks ’s Gravesande, 160–61, 239

  Mander, Karel van, 16, 137

  Mander, Karel van (the younger), 22

  Manetti, Antonio, 78–79

  maps, mapmaking, 86, 128, 129, 131, 134, 136

  Amsterdam as center of, 217

  artists as, 221–22

  astronomers and, 219

  camera obscura and, 220–21

  in Dutch art, 220

  sea charts, 219–20

  in Vermeer’s paintings, 216–22, 311–12

  Marie de Médicis, Queen of France, 64

  Marolois, Samuel, 85, 89

  Marrell, Jacob, 35

  marriage and courtship, 38, 41–42

  Marvell, Andrew, 18

  Mary, Dowager Princess of Orange, 50

  Mary, Princess of Orange, 167

  Mary II, Queen of England, 169, 291–92

  Mastlin, Michael, 130

  Maurits, Prince of Orange, 58, 60, 62

  Mechelen inn, 20, 25, 41, 71

  Medici, Cardinal Gian Carlo de’, 106

  Meij, Barbara de, 99, 102, 113, 177, 202, 269

  children of, 178, 179

  death of, 181

  wedding of Leeuwenhoek and, 100

  Meij, Deborah de, 100

  Meij, Elias de, 100

  Meij, Maria de, 269

  Melling, Bartholomeus, 37–38

  Metius, Adriaen, 162–63, 219, 281

  Metius, Jacob, 59, 60

  Metsu, Gabriel, 94

  Michelangelo, 139, 225–26, 349–50

  Micrographia (Hooke), 108, 199–201, 206, 235, 265, 319, 372, 373

  design of microscopes discussed in, 204–5

  Dutch readership of, 202

  fabric studies in, 203–4

  studies of man-made objects in, 199

  microorganisms, 303–7

  Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of, 251–66, 315

  theology and, 306–7

  microscopes, 5, 106, 173, 175

  Bacon on, 189–90

  coinage of term, 65

  compound-lens, 205, 206

  in dissections and vivisections, 238, 239–40, 313–14

  of Drebbel, 62, 64, 122, 133, 173, 193–94

  electron, 320

  of Galileo, 61–62, 65

  Hooke’s designs of, 204–5

  of Hudde, 207

  invention of, 61–62

  learning to see with, 117, 118–19, 121–22

  of Leeuwenhoek, 1–2, 11, 12, 108–9, 114, 117, 181–82, 222, 230, 246, 250, 260, 293, 294, 302, 307, 310, 319, 373

  magnifying power of, 110, 111

  modern, 119

  natural philosophers’ use of, 65, 107, 192–94, 197–98, 200–201, 206

  previously unseen worlds revealed by, 6–7

  single-lens, 205–6

  skepticism of images seen through, 6

  theologians and, 192–94

  “toy,” 303, 319

  Utrecht, 110–11

  see also optical instruments

  microscopic investigations, 301–2

  of anatomy, 235, 237–38, 239–40, 248–49

  of development, 241–42

  of generation, 121, 243–45, 277–81, 291, 293

  by Hooke, 198–201

  by Leeuwenhoek, see Leeuwenhoek, Antoni van, microscopic investigations of

  of Malpighi, 239–42, 249

  of sex organs, 244–45

  Middleburg, 58–59

  Mierevelt, Michiel Jansz. van, 48, 239

  Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Willem van der Meer, 239

  Mieris, Frans van, 94, 175, 282, 336

  military technology, Dutch Republic’s development of, 15

  Miotto, Antonio, 58

  mirrors, 98

  artists’ use of, 81–83, 98, 157

  in camera obscura, 129

  convex, 90, 97

  Moffett, Thomas, 193

  Molenaer, Jan Miense, 73, 94

  The Artist in His Studio, 220

  Molijn, Antoni de, 160

  Molijn, Gerrit, 48, 101, 165, 271, 297, 341

  Molijn, Grietge, see Berch, Magriete “Grietge” van der

  Molijn, Jacob Jansz. (Jacob du Molyn), 271, 297, 341

  as artist, 47, 48

  marriage of Grietge and, 47

  Molijn, Jan, 48, 101, 160, 165, 271, 297

  Molijn, Pieter de, 48, 341

  Molyneux, John, 115–16, 117–18

  Molyneux, Thomas, 117, 196–97, 295

  Molyneux problem, 115–17

  Momper, Philips, 226

  Monconys, Balthasar de, 174–75, 207, 271, 286

  Monet, Claude, 149

  Grainstack in the Morning, Snow Effect, 149

  Montias, Michael, 268–69

  moon, topology of, 5, 9, 65, 85, 120, 122, 164, 262, 306, 316–17

  Moray, Robert, 175, 184, 185

  More, Henry, 191

  Mo Ti, 125

  Muiderkring (Muiden circle), 168–69
<
br />   mulberry trees, 47

  Münster, Treaty of (1648), 14, 67

  Musschenbroek, Johan van, 107, 317

  Musschenbroek, Van, family, 249, 294

  Mydorge, Claude, 103–4

  myopia, 57

  Mytens, Johannes, 178

  naaikussen, 151

  Naples, 129

  Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, 18

  naturalism, in Dutch painting, 136–37, 142

  natural philosophers, 3, 160

  artistic training of, 9

  artists as, 10–11, 12

  learning to see and, 118, 121–22, 320

  microscopes used by, 65, 107, 192–94, 197–98, 200–201, 206

  microscopic investigations by, see microscopic investigations

  observation and experiment emphasized by, 5, 7, 61, 121, 134–35, 185–94, 199–201, 236

  optical instruments used by, 163, 189–90, 200–201, 320

  Royal Society founded by, 183–86, 194

  as self-described “dabblers,” 233

  theology and, 191–94, 224

  vision theories of, see vision, theories of

  see also science; Scientific Revolution

  nearsightedness, 298–99

  Nero, Emperor of Rome, 56

  Netherlands:

  division of, 221

  in Eighty Years’ War, 13–14, 15, 19, 59, 167, 208, 221

  see also Dutch Republic

  Netherlands, Spanish, 13, 16, 21, 60, 208, 226, 232

  Netscher, Caspar, 282

  neurophysiologists, 321

  New Amsterdam, 14, 182

  New Netherland, 14, 182

  New Theory of Vision, A (Berkeley), 116

  Newton, Isaac, 4, 120, 171, 207, 264

  Hooke and, 197

  as own experimental subject, 247–48

  Niceron, Jean-François, 146

  Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), Delft, 13, 18, 19–20, 39, 40, 41, 68, 144, 282, 309

  Nieuwport, Willem, 174

  “Nimrud lens,” 56, 343

  Norwich, England, 202

  “Nullius in verba,” as Royal Society motto, 186

  observation, 332

  artists’ emphasis on, 136

  Leeuwenhoek’s techniques in, 294–95

  logic vs., 187–89, 191, 200, 238, 288

  science’s emphasis on, 5, 7, 61, 121, 134–35, 185–94, 199–201, 236, 288–89, 324

  Ochtervelt, Jacob, 220

  Odierna, Gioanbatista, 65, 106, 114, 197, 198, 200, 235

  Oldenburg, Henry, 170, 175, 229–30, 235, 240, 246, 259, 262, 275, 277, 297

  On the Generation of Animals (Aristotle), 57, 243

  Onzhichtbaere werelt, De (Van Hoogstraten), 224

  Oosten, Gerrit van, 37

  Optica (Euclid), 76

  optical aberrations, 206

  optical instruments, 163

  art and, 8

  artists’ use of, 101–2, 137, 139, 185, 318, 320, 321–22, 324–25

  eye as, 118, 140, 142, 361

  as foundation of Scientific Revolution, 7–8, 121, 315, 319–20

  Huygens’s enthusiasm for, 172

  inherent problems in lenses of, 119–20

 

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