shift to domestic interiors in, 95
soft contours in, 150
Steadman on, 153–56, 364–65
stylization in, 282–83
time-consuming nature of, 215–16
underpainting by, 145, 150, 214
unusual color used in, 75
vision as preoccupation in, 311–12
voyeuristic qualities of, 314–15
x-ray analysis and, 85, 97, 98, 145, 148, 159n, 217
Vermeer, Johannes, works:
Allegory of the Catholic Faith, 106n, 217, 219, 324n
The Art of Painting, 29, 31, 177, 217, 220, 272, 273, 276, 286
The Astronomer, see Astronomer, The
Cavalier and Young Woman, 98, 216, 218, 311
Christ in the House of Mary and Martha, 28, 29, 34, 71, 72–73, 324n
The Concert, 74, 149
Diana and Her Companions, 29, 71–72, 81, 346
The Geographer, see Geographer, The
Girl with a Flute, 30
Girl with a Pearl Earring, 31, 150, 152, 273, 311, 318
Girl with a Red Hat, 30, 151, 152
Glass of Wine, The, 146
The Guitar Player, 149–50, 272, 283
Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury, 71–72
The Lacemaker, 151, 152, 283, 314
A Lady Writing, 214
A Lady Writing a Letter with Her Maid, 215
The Letter Reader, 28, 98
The Little Street, 95, 150–51
The Love Letter, 31, 34, 311
A Maid Asleep, 28, 94, 96, 97–98, 145–46
The Milkmaid, 94, 149, 150, 151, 152, 212–13, 314
Mistress and Maid, 94, 149, 150, 272, 314, 318
The Music Lesson, 149, 214, 362
The Procuress, 34, 71, 74–75, 81, 83–84, 98, 145
Saint Praxedis (attributed), 346
Study of a Young Woman, 147, 273
A View of Delft, 31, 70, 144, 145, 149, 151, 216
Visit to the Tomb, 71–72
Woman in Blue Reading a Letter, 146, 149, 150, 213, 214, 217, 218, 311, 314–15, 318–19
Woman with a Balance, 213–14, 314
Woman with a Lute, 272
Woman with a Pearl Necklace, 31, 146, 273, 314
Young Woman Seated at a Virginal, 2–3, 74, 96, 169, 213, 214, 283–84
Young Woman Standing at a Virginal, 169, 283–84
Young Woman with a Water Pitcher, 147, 213, 218
Young Woman with a Wineglass, 31
Vermeer, Maria, 267, 270, 282
Vermeer, Reynier Jansz., 13, 23, 71
as art dealer, 24–25, 26, 27, 28, 336
as caffa-worker, 24, 26
as innkeeper, 24–25, 27
registration in St. Luke’s Guild by, 24, 271
Vermeer surname adopted by, 24–25
vermilion, 32–33
Viau, Théophile de, 166
Vignola, Jacopo Barozzi da, 85, 86
Villeneuve, Arnaud de, 126, 130
vinegar eels, Leeuwenhoek’s investigation of, 258–59
Virginia, 164
Virlin, Maria, 100
vision:
brain and, 320–21
expectations and, 148, 317, 318
learning to see and, see learning to see
Leeuwenhoek’s preoccupation with, 310, 312
pyramid of, 76, 78, 79, 88, 348
stereoscopic, 321
Vermeer’s preoccupation with, 311–12
vision, theories of, 75–80, 139, 347
Kepler and, 78, 87–89, 360–61
Visscher, Anna Roemers, 169, 170
Visscher, Claes Jansz., 220, 221
Visscher, Nicolas Claesz., 220
Visscher map, 220
Vita (Alberti), 142
vivianite, 75
vivisection:
Hooke on, 312–13
microscopes and, 313
Vliet, Hendrik van, 71, 146
Voldersgracht, Delft, 19, 20, 24, 28, 30, 165
Volvox, 303
Vondel, Joost van den, 169
Vorticella, 293
Vosmaer, Daniël, 155
View of Delft through an Imaginary Loggia, 155
Vossius, Isaac, 175, 207
Voyages (Monconys), 175
Vroom, Hendrik Cornelisz., 22
Waag (weighing house), Delft, 20
Wadum, Jørgen, 152
Warmond, 49
Catholic population of, 48
welfare system, of Dutch Republic, 17, 27
Westermann, Mariët, 144
Westminster School, 195–96
Westphalia, Peace of (1648), 167
Westphalia, Treaty of (1648), 221
White Unicorn (ship), 13
Wildens, Jan, 171
Wilkins, John, 184, 196
William I, Prince of Orange, 38, 71
William II, Prince of Orange, 167
William III, King of England and Prince of Orange, 50, 167–68, 169, 209–10, 291–92
as stadtholder, 210, 211
Wilt, Tomas van der, The Anatomy Lesson of Abraham van Bleyswijk, 298
Wilt, Willem van der, 298
wine, Leeuwenhoek’s microscopic investigation of, 269–70
Witelo, 130
Witt, Cornelis de, 167
murder of, 210
Witt, Johan de, 167, 168, 209
murder of, 210
Witte, Emanuel de, 71, 85, 146
Wittel, Gaspar van, see Vanvitelli, Gaspare
women:
ambiguous portrayals of, in Dutch genre painting, 74–75
literacy of, 100–101
rights of, 40–41
Wonderen van de kleyne werelt, De (Feylingius), 193
wood panels, painting on, 30
Woolf, Virginia, 170
working class, Dutch, 16
Wotton, Henry, 131
Wren, Christopher, 87, 175, 184, 185, 196, 200, 372
Wren, Matthew, 192
Wyck, Johan de, 103
x-ray analysis, 320
of Vermeer paintings, 85, 97, 98, 145, 148, 159n, 217
Yu Chao-Lung, 125
Zahn, Johann, 132, 358
Zeeland:
in Franco-Dutch War, 208
see also Dutch Republic
Zuccaro, Federigo, 350
About Eye of the Beholder
By the early 17th century the Scientific Revolution was well under way. Philosophers and scientists were throwing off the yoke of ancient authority to peer at nature and the cosmos through microscopes and telescopes.
In October 1632, in the small town of Delft in the Dutch Republic, two geniuses were born who would bring about a seismic shift in the idea of what it meant to see the world. One was Johannes Vermeer, whose experiments with lenses and a camera obscura taught him how we see under different conditions of light and helped him create the most luminous works of art ever beheld. The other was Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, whose work with microscopes revealed a previously unimagined realm of minuscule creatures.
By intertwining the biographies of these two men, Laura Snyder tells the story of a historical moment in both art and science that revolutionized how we see the world today.
Reviews
“Laura Snyder is a master storyteller. A fabulous book.”
Oliver Sacks on Eye of the Beholder
“A natural successor to Jenny Uglow’s The Lunar Men.”
Washington Post on The Philosophical Breakfast Club
“Ms. Snyder… shows a full command of the scientific, social and cultural dimensions of the age.”
Wall Street Journal
About Laura J. Snyder
Fulbright scholar LAURA J. SNYDER is the author of The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World, a Scientific American Notable Book, winner of the 2011 Royal Institution of Australia poll for Favorite Science Book, and an official selection of the TED Book Club. She is also the author of Reforming Philosophy: A Victorian Debate o
n Science and Society. Snyder writes about science and ideas for the Wall Street Journal. She is a professor at St. John’s University and lives in New York City.
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The story starts here.
First published in the UK in 2015 by W. W. Norton Company, Inc.
First published in the UK in 2015 by Head of Zeus Ltd
Copyright © Laura J. Snyder, 2015
Jacket images © SuperStock / Fine Art Images. Front: Astronomer by Jan Vermeer, Oil on canvas, circa 1668, 1632-1675, France, Paris, Louvre, 51,5x43,5
Back: Fabritius, Carel (1622-1654) National Gallery, London Painting 15,5x31,7 Landscape, Still Life A View of Delft, with a Musical Instrument Seller’s Stall
The moral right of Laura J. Snyder to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Pages x–xi: The Map and Profile of Delft, 1703. Jan Verkolje (I), Coenraet Decker, Johannes de Ram, Pieter Smith. Collection Museum Prinsenhof, Delft, The Netherlands. Photographer: Jaap Oldenkamp.
Quotes from The Collected Letters of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek used by courtesy of Swets & Zeitlinger, now Taylor and Francis.
Epigraph “Study the science of art …” from Leonardo’s Universe: The Renaissance World of Leonardo da Vinci by Bulent Atalay and Keith Warmsley, National Geographic Books, 2008, p. 96, used by courtesy of National Geographic.
“Here our eyes are …” by Constantijn Huygens from Ooghen-Troost (1647), quoted in Thijs Weststeijn, The Visible World: Samuel van Hoogstraten’s Art Theory and the Legitimation of Painting in the Dutch Golden Age, p. 334. Reprinted by courtesy of Thijs Weststeijn and Amsterdam University Press.
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A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (E) 9781784970239
ISBN (HB) 9781784970246
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Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing Page 53