{"data": {"id": 147777, "accession_number": "1974.15", "share_license_status": "CC0", "tombstone": "Microscope, c. 1745\u2013 1765. France, mid-18th century. Gilt bronze mounts; overall: 28.6 x 15.4 x 11.5 cm (11 1/4 x 6 1/16 x 4 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund, 1974.15", "current_location": null, "title": "Microscope", "creation_date": "c. 1745\u2013 1765", "creation_date_earliest": 1740, "creation_date_latest": 1770, "artists_tags": [], "culture": ["France, mid-18th century"], "technique": "gilt bronze mounts", "support_materials": [], "department": "Decorative Art and Design", "collection": "Decorative Arts", "type": "Metalwork", "measurements": "Overall: 28.6 x 15.4 x 11.5 cm (11 1/4 x 6 1/16 x 4 1/2 in.)", "dimensions": {"overall": {"height": 0.286, "height_inch": 11, "height_inch_fraction": 0.25, "width": 0.154, "width_inch": 6, "width_inch_fraction": 0.0625, "depth": 0.115, "depth_inch": 4, "depth_inch_fraction": 0.5}}, "state_of_the_work": null, "edition_of_the_work": null, "copyright": null, "inscriptions": [], "exhibitions": {"current": [{"id": 302084, "title": "Year in Review: 1974", "description": "<i>Year in Review: 1974</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975).", "opening_date": "1975-03-11T04:00:00"}, {"id": 441598, "title": "Artlens Exhibition 2019", "description": "<i>Artlens Exhibition 2019</i>. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer).", "opening_date": "2019-06-11T04:00:00"}], "legacy": []}, "provenance": [{"description": "Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": null, "sortorder": null}, {"description": "(Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York).", "citations": [], "footnotes": null, "date": null, "sortorder": null}], "find_spot": null, "related_works": [], "former_accession_numbers": [], "did_you_know": "Microscopes, especially ones as elaborate as this example, were luxurious symbols of enlightened aristocratic sophistication in the 1700s.", "early_education_description": null, "artlens_description": null, "description": "Composed of elaborate gold-plated parts, this microscope is not just a decorative work of art; it is also a functional tool for scientific inquiry. Its ornamentation reflects the intermingling of art and science during the European Enlightenment, an era when scholars emphasized the study of science and reason as a means of social and intellectual progress. The two lenses of a compound microscope allow for better focus and magnification, making it easier for scientists\u2014amateur and professional alike\u2014to look closer at a specimen to see more than can be seen by the naked eye. This microscope\u2019s ornate decoration suggests it was probably owned by a wealthy person, possibly an amateur scientist. <br><br>A version of an 18th-century English poem playfully describes what can be newly seen with a microscope: <br><em>Great fleas have little fleas </em><br><em>Upon their backs to bite \u2019em <br>The little fleas have lesser fleas <br>And so ad infinitum.</em>", "external_resources": {"wikidata": ["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q79927275"], "internet_archive": ["https://archive.org/details/clevelandart-1974.15-microscope"]}, "citations": [{"citation": "Lee, Sherman E. \u201cThe Year in Review for 1974.\u201d <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 62, no. 3 (March 1975): 62\u2013102.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 79; Mentioned: p. 98, no. 38", "url": "http://www.jstor.org/stable/25152580"}, {"citation": "The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.", "page_number": "Reproduced: p. 180", "url": "https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n200"}], "url": "https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.15", "images": {"annotation": null, "web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_web.jpg", "width": "636", "height": "893", "filesize": "268275", "filename": "1974.15_web.jpg"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_print.jpg", "width": "2423", "height": "3400", "filesize": "4314107", "filename": "1974.15_print.jpg"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_full.tif", "width": "3742", "height": "5250", "filesize": "59000692", "filename": "1974.15_full.tif"}}, "alternate_images": [{"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt0_web.jpg", "width": "816", "height": "893", "filesize": "435447"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt0_print.jpg", "width": "2435", "height": "2665", "filesize": "4034764"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt0_full.tif", "width": "2435", "height": "2665", "filesize": "19505880"}, "date_created": "2008-01-08T14:03:37", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt1_web.jpg", "width": "588", "height": "893", "filesize": "255116"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt1_print.jpg", "width": "2240", "height": "3400", "filesize": "4063997"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt1_full.tif", "width": "3470", "height": "5268", "filesize": "54901884"}, "date_created": "2008-01-07T20:26:05", "annotation": ""}, {"web": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt2_web.jpg", "width": "633", "height": "893", "filesize": "244680"}, "print": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt2_print.jpg", "width": "2409", "height": "3400", "filesize": "3994203"}, "full": {"url": "https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_alt2_full.tif", "width": "3662", "height": "5169", "filesize": "56831324"}, "date_created": "2008-01-07T20:36:49", "annotation": ""}], "creditline": "Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund", "image_credit": null, "sketchfab_id": "dfb9849f5af049f6a945de6e7e0001d9", "sketchfab_url": "https://sketchfab.com/models/dfb9849f5af049f6a945de6e7e0001d9", "gallery_donor_text": null, "athena_id": 147777, "creators": [], "legal_status": "accessioned", "accession_date": "1974-03-08T00:00:00", "sortable_date": 1740, "date_added_to_oa": null, "date_text": "c. 1745\u2013 1765", "collapse_artists": false, "on_loan": false, "recently_acquired": false, "record_type": "object", "conservation_statement": null, "has_conservation_images": false, "cover_accession_number": null, "is_nazi_era_provenance": false, "impression": null, "alternate_titles": [], "is_highlight": false, "updated_at": "2026-10-24 08:46:12.068000"}}