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