id: 147777 accession number: 1974.15 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1974.15 updated: 2023-08-23 22:28:14.541000 Microscope, c. 1745– 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 title: Microscope title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: c. 1745– 1765 creation date earliest: 1740 creation date latest: 1770 current location: 001A ArtLens Exhibition creditline: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund copyright: --- culture: France, mid-18th century technique: gilt bronze mounts department: Decorative Art and Design collection: Decorative Arts type: Metalwork find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS --- measurements: Overall: 28.6 x 15.4 x 11.5 cm (11 1/4 x 6 1/16 x 4 1/2 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Year in Review: 1974 opening date: 1975-03-11T04:00:00 Year in Review: 1974. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 11-April 6, 1975). title: Artlens Exhibition 2019 opening date: 2019-06-11T04:00:00 Artlens Exhibition 2019. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York date: footnotes: citations: (Rosenberg and Stiebel, Inc., New York). date: footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: Microscopes, especially ones as elaborate as this example, were luxurious symbols of enlightened aristocratic sophistication in the 1700s. digital 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—amateur and professional alike—to look closer at a specimen to see more than can be seen by the naked eye. This microscope’s ornate decoration suggests it was probably owned by a wealthy person, possibly an amateur scientist.

A version of an 18th-century English poem playfully describes what can be newly seen with a microscope:
Great fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite ’em
The little fleas have lesser fleas
And so ad infinitum. wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. page number: Reproduced: p. 180 url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1978/page/n200 --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1974.15/1974.15_full.tif