Eye of the beholder : Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the reinvention of seeing

Snyder Transports Us To The Streets, Inns, And Guildhalls Of Seventeenth-century Holland, Where Artists And Scientists Gathered, And To Their Studios And Laboratories, Where They Mixed Paints And Prepared Canvases, Ground And Polished Lenses, Examined And Dissected Insects And Other Animals, And Invented The Modern Notion Of Seeing ... [bringing] Vermeer And Van Leeuwenhoek--and The Men And Women Around Them--vividly To Life--dust Jacket Flap. The Remarkable Story Of How An Artist And A Scientist In Seventeenth-century Holland Transformed The Way We See The World. On A Summer Day In 1674, In The Small Dutch City Of Delft, Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek--a Cloth Salesman, Local Bureaucrat, And Self-taught Natural Philosopher--gazed Through A Tiny Lens Set Into A Brass Holder And Discovered A Never-before Imagined World Of Microscopic Life. At The Same Time, In A Nearby Attic, The Painter Johannes Vermeer Was Using Another Optical Device, A Camera Obscura, To Experiment With Light And Create The Most Luminous Pictures Ever Beheld. See For Yourself! Was The Clarion Call Of The 1600s. Scientists Peered At Nature Through Microscopes And Telescopes, Making The Discoveries In Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, And Anatomy That Ignited The Scientific Revolution. Artists Investigated Nature With Lenses, Mirrors, And Camera Obscuras, Creating Extraordinarily Detailed Paintings Of Flowers And Insects, And Scenes Filled With Realistic Effects Of Light, Shadow, And Color. By Extending The Reach Of Sight The New Optical Instruments Prompted The Realization That There Is More Than Meets The Eye. But They Also Raised Questions About How We See And What It Means To See. In Answering These Questions, Scientists And Artists In Delft Changed How We Perceive The World.--the Publisher's Description. Prologue: More Than Meets The Eye -- Counterfeiter Of Nature -- From The Lion's Corner -- Fire And Light -- Learning To See -- Ut Pictura, Ita Visio -- Mathematical Artists -- A Treasure-house Of Nature -- Year Of Catastrophe -- The Invisible World -- Generations -- Scientific Lion -- New Ways Of Seeing -- Dare To See! Laura J. Snyder. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 391-405) And Index. The remarkable story of how an artist and a scientist in seventeenth-century Holland transformed the way we see the world. On a summer day in 1674, in the small Dutch city of Delft, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek—a cloth salesman, local bureaucrat, and self-taught natural philosopher—gazed through a tiny lens set into a brass holder and discovered a never-before imagined world of microscopic life. At the same time, in a nearby attic, the painter Johannes Vermeer was using another optical device, a camera obscura, to experiment with light and create the most luminous pictures ever beheld. “See for yourself!” was the clarion call of the 1600s. Scientists peered at nature through microscopes and telescopes, making the discoveries in astronomy, physics, chemistry, and anatomy that ignited the Scientific Revolution. Artists investigated nature with lenses, mirrors, and camera obscuras, creating extraordinarily detailed paintings of flowers and insects, and scenes filled with realistic effects of light, shadow, and color. By extending the reach of sight the new optical instruments prompted the realization that there is more than meets the eye. But they also raised questions about how we see and what it means to see. In answering these questions, scientists and artists in Delft changed how we perceive the world. In Eye of the Beholder, Laura J. Snyder transports us to the streets, inns, and guildhalls of seventeenth-century Holland, where artists and scientists gathered, and to their studios and laboratories, where they mixed paints and prepared canvases, ground and polished lenses, examined and dissected insects and other animals, and invented the modern notion of seeing. With charm and narrative flair Snyder brings Vermeer and Van Leeuwenhoek—and the men and women around them—vividly to life. The story of these two geniuses and the transformation they engendered shows us why we see the world—and our place within it—as we do today. Eye of the Beholder was named "A Best Art Book of the Year" by Christie's and "A Best Read of the Year" by New Scientist in 2015. In 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. 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 o Taking readers to 17th-century Holland, where artists and scientists gathered, an extraordinary story reveals how two geniuses --a self-taught natural philosopher and an artist -- transformed the way we see the world by coming to the realization that there is more than meets the eye.