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 52

by Laura J. Snyder


  learning to see with, 117–22, 157, 285–86, 312, 315, 316–17, 319, 323–25

  natural philosophers use of, 189–90, 200–201, 320

  perspective theory and, 84–87, 101–2, 184

  surveyors’ use of, 163–64

  tubes as, 57–58

  used in painting, 90–93, 97–98

  Vermeer’s possible use of, 212, 311

  see also camera obscura; microscopes; telescopes

  optic nerve, 77, 78, 87, 114–15, 320

  Leeuwenhoek’s studies of, 250–51, 309, 313

  Ortelius, 222

  Oude Kerk (Old Church), Delft, 20, 39, 144, 245, 267, 302, 309

  Oude Langendijck, Delft, 37, 41, 46, 71, 176, 272, 275–76, 282

  ovaries, microscopic investigations of, 244–45

  ovulism, 279

  Pacini, Filippo, 305

  Padua, 238

  Paepenhoek, Delft, 40, 41

  painting:

  on canvas vs. wood, 30–31

  Dutch as consumers of, 25–26

  ground in, 31

  Italian narrative tradition in, 136

  as liberal art, 80

  mirrors used in, 81–83

  optical effects in, 285–86

  optical instruments used in, 90–93, 97–98

  as “scientific,” 80

  underpainting in, 31, 145, 150, 214

  painting, in Dutch Golden Age, 15

  genre, 93–96

  illusionism in, 137–38, 155, 157

  imaginary architecture in, 155

  learning to see in, 157

  naturalism in, 136–37, 142

  paints:

  colors of, 32–36, 75

  layering of, 212–14, 215

  mixing of, 143, 184–85

  storage of, 36

  toxicity of, 33, 35, 36

  Palma, Jacopo, 227

  Dance of Naked Children, 227

  panoramas, camera obscura and, 144–45

  pantographs, 86–87

  Papal States, 192

  parthenogenesis, 293

  Pascal, Blaise, 175

  patrons, patronage, 95–96

  Paul, Saint, 192

  Paul V, Pope, 60

  Peace of Breda (1667), 168, 183

  Peace of Westphalia (1648), 167, 221

  peat, 18

  Peiresc, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de, 64–65

  pendulum clocks, 5

  Pepys, Samuel, 8–9, 18, 138, 182, 199

  Perpectiva (Alhazen), 126

  Perpetual Edict for the Preserving of Freedom (1667), 168, 209, 210, 211, 225

  Persia, 14

  “perspective glasses,” 164

  perspective theory, 9, 10, 29–30, 75–76, 84, 85, 120, 145–46, 316, 349–50

  camera obscura and, 146–47

  Dutch artists’ relaxed use of, 89–90

  foreshortening and, 80–82

  Galileo’s knowledge of, 9, 120, 316, 333

  instruments used in, 84–87

  one-point, 78–79

  optical instruments and, 90–93, 101–2, 184

  strictly geometrical approach in, 89–90

  and theories of vision, 75–76, 78, 79

  Vermeer’s techniques and, 75, 81, 145–46, 363

  Peter I “the Great,” Czar of Russia, 292

  Petrie, Alexander, 203, 262, 263

  Petty, William, 191

  Philip II, King of Spain, 14, 38

  Philosophical Transactions, 170, 194, 201–2, 234, 260, 302

  photography:

  as art form, 322

  learning to see and, 284–85

  Vermeer’s paintings and, 286

  Pick, Adam, 25

  Plato, 76, 80

  Platter, Felix, 87

  Poel, Egbert van der, 69

  A View of Delft after the Explosion, 69

  Poelenburg, Cornelis van, 171

  pointillés, 151–52

  Poitevin, Robert, 263

  poldering (land reclamation), 218

  positron emission tomography (PET) scans, 320

  pottery, 22–23, 183

  Povey, Thomas, 185, 223

  Practica della perspettiva, La (Barbaro), 127–28

  presbyopia, 56–57

  Price, James, 261

  Prince Rupert’s drops, 170

  Principia mathematica (Newton), 197

  Principia philosophiae (Descartes), 237

  Prospettiva pratica (Cigoli), 140

  Protestants, Protestantism, 21

  marriages of Catholics and, 38

  as official religion of Dutch Republic, 38

  scientific inquiry encouraged by, 192

  pyramid of vision, 76, 78, 79, 88, 348

  Quillenus, Erasmus, II, 29, 73

  Raey, Johannes de, 238

  rampjaar (year of catastrophe), 207–8, 211, 230, 267

  Ranck, Johannes, 37

  Raphael, 225–26

  “reading stones,” 56

  Réaumur, René-Antoine Ferchault de, 304

  Redi, Francesco, 206

  Reeves, Richard, 175

  Reformed Church, 38, 49, 378

  refraction, 206

  religion, see theology

  Rembrandt van Rijn, 28, 35, 37, 137, 142, 171–72, 174, 216, 225, 231, 378

  Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp, 239

  bankruptcy of, 274

  Bathsheba at Her Bath, 72

  Descent from the Cross, 172

  Huygens and, 171–72

  Raising of the Cross, 172

  The Spectacles Seller, 103

  Syndics of the Amsterdam Drapers’ Guild, 55

  repeatability, as hallmark of science, 260–66

  reproduction, see generation

  retina, 77, 87–88, 115, 140, 201

  Reynit, Gerard, 225

  Reynolds, Joshua, 361

  Rietwijck, Cornelis, 28, 30, 41

  Rijswick palace, 154

  Risner, Friedrich, 130, 133, 164

  Ritmejer, Bartholomeus, 269, 270

  Rombouts, Jacob, 267, 272

  Röntgen, Wilhelm, 320

  Rosa ursina (Scheiner), 129

  rotifers, 252n, 293

  Rotterdam, 18, 50, 182, 202

  Rotterdam Gate, Delft, 144

  rouleaux, 249, 381

  Royal Academy of Sciences, France, 232

  Royal Society of London, 1n, 5, 10, 63, 87, 114–15, 132, 170, 173, 175, 192, 201, 223, 229–30, 239, 240, 241, 245

  artists’ processes investigated by, 184–85

  founding of, 183–86, 194

  generation studied by, 242–45

  Hooke as curator of, 194, 195, 196, 197, 198–99, 264

  Leeuwenhoek elected fellow of, 288

  Leeuwenhoek’s correspondence with, 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

  and Leeuwenhoek’s discovery of microscopic life, 251, 254

  Leeuwenhoek’s gift of microscopes to, 302

  “Nullius in verba” as motto of, 186

  Philosophical Transactions of, 170, 194, 201–2, 234, 260, 302

  repeatability of experiments emphasized by, 260–66

  wide-ranging investigations of, 184, 196

  Rubens, Peter Paul, 171, 174

  Alexander Crowning Roxane, 171

  Ruijven, Pieter Jansz. van, 95

  Ruijven, Pieter van, as Vermeer’s patron, 95–96

  Ruysch, Frederik, 11, 231, 292

  Ruysch, Rachel, 11

  Sachariassen, Johannes, 58

  Saenredam, Pieter, 90, 336

  Sagredo, Giovanfrancesco, 60, 105

  Saint-Cloud, Guillaume de, 127

  St. Luke’s Guild, Delft, 19, 20, 25, 27, 47, 166, 227, 260, 298

  mapmakers as members of, 221

  Reynier Vermeer’s registration in, 24, 271

  Vermeer as headman of, 165, 225, 271

  Vermeer’s registration in, 28, 43, 71

 
Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome, 85

  Sapere aude, as motto, 323–24, 390

  Saturn:

  moons of, 171

  rings of, 10, 61, 171

  Scaliger, J. J., 101

  Schat der Armen (Jacobi), 178

  Scheiner, Christoph, 86, 128–29, 141

  Schenckenschans, 209

  Schepens, Pijeter, 269

  Schie Canal, Delft, 144

  Schiedam Gate, Delft, 144

  Schilderboek (Book on Painting; Van Mander), 16

  Schipluy (Schipluiden), 42

  Scholastics, 189–90

  Schoonhovius, Florentius, 323

  Schott, Gaspar, 106, 131–32

  Schurman, Anna Maria van, 170

  Schwenter, Daniel, 296

  science:

  interconnectedness of art and, 9–11

  observation and experiment emphasized by, 5, 7, 61, 121, 134–35, 185–94, 199–201, 236, 288–89, 324

  repeatability as hallmark of, 260–66

  theology and, 324

  see also natural philosophers

  Scientific Revolution, 4–7

  optical instruments as foundation of, 7–8, 121, 315, 319–20

  rejection of authority in, 324

  scioptric ball, 296

  Scots, in Dutch Republic, 50–51, 342

  Scots language, 342

  sea charts, 219–20

  Second Anglo-Dutch War, 168

  seeing:

  art and, see art

  new conceptions of, 7–8, 12

  Seggett, Thomas, 193

  Seghers, Daniel, 8

  Segreti, I, 129

  semen, Leeuwenhoek’s microscopic investigation of, 277–78, 317

  sense perception, 247–48

  mechanistic approach to, 237

  sex act, generation and, 243

  sex organs, 231, 278

  microscopic investigations of, 244–45

  Shakespeare, William, ix

  Shen Kua, 125

  Sheriff’s Chamber, Delft, Leeuwenhoek appointed chamberlain of, 112–13, 165

  Siam, 14

  Sidereus nuncius (Galileo), 85

  silkworms:

  children and, 47

  Malpighi studies of, 240–41

  Sint Jorispoort (St. George’s Gate), Delft, 19

  skin, Malpighian (reticular) layer of, 240

  slave trade, Dutch and, 14

  Sloane, Hans, 279, 304

  smalt, 34

  Society of the Arts, 206

  solar microscopes, 295–97

  Leeuwenhoek’s possible use of, 295–97

  solar system, Copernicus’s theory of, 6, 120, 186, 253, 306, 316

  Solms, Amalia van, 171, 172

  Spain, 192

  in Eighty Years’ War with Dutch Republic, 13–14, 19, 167, 208, 221

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

  spectacles, 6, 103, 133

  concave lenses of, 57, 58

  convex lenses of, 56–57

  as status symbols, 57

  sperm:

  of insects, 279

  Leeuwenhoek’s microscopic studies of, 121, 278–81, 291, 293

  spherical aberration, 119–20, 150, 151

  Spiering, François, 21

  Spiering, Pieter, 95–96

  Spinola, Ambrogio, 59, 60

  Spinoza, Baruch, 63, 202, 207

  lens making by, 112

  Spoor, Mathias, 67

  Sprat, Thomas, 186, 188, 189, 191

  Stadhuis (Town Hall), Delft, 19–20, 113, 165, 166

  States General, 58, 59–60

  defensive flooding ordered by, 207–8

  Steadman, Philip, 153, 364–65

  Steen, Jan, 70

  Stelluti, Francesco, 197

  Steno, Nicolas (Niels Stensen), 231–32, 237–38, 245

  Stentor, 293

  stereoscopic vision, 321

  Stevens, Jannetje, 276

  strabismus, 321

  Suijer, Gerruit, 271

  sun:

  camera obscura in observations of, 125, 126–27, 130

  Venus’s transit of, 129n

  see also solar system

  surveyors:

  instruments used by, 159, 163–64

  Swalmius, Cornelia, 230, 278, 289, 297, 302

  Swalmius, Eleazar, 231, 378

  Swalmius, Hendrik, 378

  Swalmius, Henricus, 231

  Swalmius, Johannes, 230

  Swalmius family, 231

  Swammerdam, Jan, 107, 135, 188, 193, 202, 206, 231, 232, 243–45, 249, 250, 254, 281, 317, 380

  Swift, Jonathan, 103

  Swillens, P. T. A., 153

  Sylva sylvarum (Bacon), 135, 190

  Sylvius, Franciscus, 231

  Synod of Dordrecht (1619), 192

  tadpoles, Leeuwenhoek’s observations of, 292–93

  Taiwan, 14

  Talbot, Henry Fox, 322

  tapestry weaving, 21–22

  Tas association, 223

  technology, art and, 321–22

  telescopes, 5, 175, 306

  apertures in, 61

  coining of name, 61

  first recorded demonstration of, 58–60

  of Galileo, 60–61, 65, 105, 111, 307

  invention of, 57–60

  learning to see with, 118, 121–22

  magnifying power of, 111

  modern, 319–20

  previously unseen worlds revealed by, 6–7, 65

  skepticism of images scene through, 6

  theologians and, 193

  see also optical instruments

  Temple, William, 17

  Tesselschade, Maria, 169, 170

  testicles, 278

  Texel, Battle of (1673), 211

  Theatrum Anatomicum, 160

  Theatrum orbis terrarum (Ortelius), 222

  theology:

  artists and, 224–25

  Bacon and, 191–92

  microscope and, 192–94

  microscopic discoveries and, 306–7

  natural philosophers and, 191–94, 224

  science and, 324

  telescope and, 193

  Theophrastus, 76

  thermometers, 5

  Thins, Maria, 37–38, 42, 95, 267, 271, 274, 275, 276–77, 338

  Catholicism of, 38, 40

  death of, 282

  independence of, 40–41

  Oude Langendijck house of, 41, 46, 71, 176–77, 272, 275–76, 282

  property of, 272–73

  and settlement of Vermeer’s estate, 271, 272, 275–77

  Thomson, James, 305–6

  thought experiments, 247n

  3–D imaging, 322

  Titian, 216, 225–26, 285

  tooth plaque, Leeuwenhoek’s investigation of, 287–88, 289–90

  topographical drawings, camera obscura used in, 130, 131, 144, 164

  Torrentius, Johannes (Johannes Symonsz. van der Beeck), 123–24, 142, 260, 336, 355

  Emblematic Still Life with Flagon, Glass, Jug and Bridle, 124n

  Torricelli, Evangelista, 106, 175, 260

  “toy” microscopes, 303, 319

  trade, Dutch Republic and, 14–15, 20, 217

  Trattato (Leonardo da Vinci), 149

  Trembley, Abraham, 304

  Trent, Council of, 38

  Tuan Chengshih, 125

  tubes, 82

  as simple optical devices, 57–58

  Twelve-Year Truce (1609–1621), 14, 20

  Uffenbach, Zacharias von, 332

  ultramarine, 35

  underpainting, 31, 145, 150, 214

  Union of Utrecht, 38, 39

  United Netherlands, see Dutch Republic

  United Provinces, see Dutch Republic

  Utrecht, 208

  Utrecht microscope, 110–11

  Uttenbrouck, Grietje Adriaens, 230

  Uttenbrouck family, 231

  Uylenburgh, Gerrit, 225, 226

  Uylenburgh, Saskia, 225

  Uyt
tenbroeck, Moses van, 171, 230, 271

  vanishing point, 146

  Van Leeuwenhoek’s disease, 302

  Vanvitelli, Gaspare (Gaspar van Wittel), 221

  camera obscura used by, 144–45, 362

  vas deferens, 278

  Velázquez, Diego, 91–92, 285

  Las Meninas, 91–92

  Venus at Her Mirror, 92

  Velde, Esias van de, 171

  Velthuysen, Lambert van, 237

  Venus:

  phases of, 5–6

  solar transit of, 129n

  Verelst, Simon Pietersz., 8–9, 138

  Verkolje, Johannes, 161, 282

  Leeuwenhoek’s portrait by, 161, 173, 288, 297–98

  Vermeer, Gertruy, 23

  Vermeer, Johannes, 11–12, 19, 24, 69, 70, 71, 85, 106n, 138, 146, 260, 271

  apprenticeship of, 28–37, 337–38

  as art dealer, 212, 216, 267

  birth of, 13

  Catholic conversion of, 38, 49, 73

  childhood of, 27

  children of Catharina and, 71, 95, 178, 179, 212, 383

  courtship and marriage of Catharina Bolnes and, 37–43, 166, 338

  death of, 267–68, 383

  decreasing production of, 267

  De Hooch and, 95

  financial difficulties and debts of, 212, 267, 271, 272, 273–74, 282, 384

  as headman of St. Luke’s Guild, 165, 225, 271

  house of, see Thins, Maria, Oude Langendijck house of

  Huygens and, 174

  Leeuwenhoek as executor of estate of, 46, 173, 268, 271, 275–77, 281–82

  militia joined by, 208

  mutual acquaintances of Leeuwenhoek and, 166

  Protestantism of, 38

  registration in St. Luke’s Guild of, 28, 43, 71

  separation of assets of Catharina Bolnes and, 274

  studio of, 154, 155–56, 174–75, 177

  total output of, 216

  Uylenburgh controversy and, 225, 227, 228

  Van Ruijven as patron of, 95–96

  Vermeer, Johannes, painting style and techniques of:

  abstract elements in, 282–84

  camera obscura possibly used in, 2–4, 12, 143–57, 215, 220–21, 297, 315–16, 318, 324–25, 364–65

  color and tone mastery of, 148–49

  compasses used by, 83–84

  composition mastery of, 147–48, 217

  depth-of-field effects employed by, 150–51

  floor tiles and, 146, 154, 155, 311

  foreshortening used by, 81–82, 83

  highlighting in, 212–13, 214

  layering of paint in, 212–14, 215

  lenses probably used by, 97–98

  maps and globes depicted in, 216–222, 311–12

  mirrors possibly used by, 81, 83, 98

  optical effects in, 212–13, 215, 283–84, 286, 311, 314–15, 318–19

  optical instruments possibly used in, 212, 311

  perspective theory and, 75, 81, 145–46, 363

  photography and, 286

  pointillés employed by, 151–52

  reflections in, 214–15

  repeated subject matter in, 310–11, 314

  shadows as painted by, 149–50, 213, 318–19

 

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