Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing
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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, 10–11
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