545
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_58
Chapter 58
Metaphysical Landscapes
58.1 The Animals and Landscapes of Vermeer
Between 1673 and 1723 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek of Delft (1632–1723), famed
for his observations of innumerable worlds within worlds, utilizing his impeccably
ground single-lens microscope, wrote scores of letters to the Royal Academy of
London in which he included fine pencil sketches of insect exoskeletons, the twig of
an ash tree, a claw, the leg of a louse, joints, blood vessels, and countless other fineries of the biological world. Leeuwenhoek was born the same year as his close friend
and neighbor Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). Given the scientist’s admitted limited
talent as a draughtsman, some have speculated that Leeuwenhoek did not work
alone. Japanese biologist Shin-Ichi Fukuoka, having studied Leeuwenhoek’s manuscripts and letters, presents a most plausible hypothesis: Leeuwenhoek relied upon
Vermeer to do the sketches.
1
It certainly makes sense. Both men were obsessed with
a photo-realistic ephemerality, inherently contradictory: the presentation of the
world through the illusion of human recreation, using a lens, brushes, paints, and the
possibly other mechanical devices and techniques to ensure a soft verisimilitude,
precise conjurations. Vermeer painted several obscure birds and other mythic
beings, in addition to a mournful dog, numerous detailed maps, and several landscapes within his body of 34 known works, 23 separate landscapes within his painting, “Artist in His Studio”(ca. 1666–1668).
For all of his perfections, and crucial to them, Vermeer’s landscapes, most notably his two urban panoramas, “View of Delft” (1660–1661) and “The Little Street”
(1657–1658), in addition to his “Diana And Her Companions” (1655–1656) are as
strangely remote and out of time as certain Chinese ice worms (enchytraeid annelids) in Xizang, like the species Sininchytracus glacialis, which lives all year in the
1 See Sin -Ichi Fukuoka’s Vermeer: Realm of Light – Travels through art and science in pursuit of
the greatest artist of the Golden Age, Kirakusha Inc., Tokyo, 2015, Chapter 7: “A Certain
Hypothesis,” pp. 239–251.
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
M. C. Tobias, J. G. Morrison, On the Nature of Ecological Paradox,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-64526-7_58
Chapter 58
Metaphysical Landscapes
58.1 The Animals and Landscapes of Vermeer
Between 1673 and 1723 Antonie van Leeuwenhoek of Delft (1632–1723), famed
for his observations of innumerable worlds within worlds, utilizing his impeccably
ground single-lens microscope, wrote scores of letters to the Royal Academy of
London in which he included fine pencil sketches of insect exoskeletons, the twig of
an ash tree, a claw, the leg of a louse, joints, blood vessels, and countless other fineries of the biological world. Leeuwenhoek was born the same year as his close friend
and neighbor Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675). Given the scientist’s admitted limited
talent as a draughtsman, some have speculated that Leeuwenhoek did not work
alone. Japanese biologist Shin-Ichi Fukuoka, having studied Leeuwenhoek’s manuscripts and letters, presents a most plausible hypothesis: Leeuwenhoek relied upon
Vermeer to do the sketches.
1
It certainly makes sense. Both men were obsessed with
a photo-realistic ephemerality, inherently contradictory: the presentation of the
world through the illusion of human recreation, using a lens, brushes, paints, and the
possibly other mechanical devices and techniques to ensure a soft verisimilitude,
precise conjurations. Vermeer painted several obscure birds and other mythic
beings, in addition to a mournful dog, numerous detailed maps, and several landscapes within his body of 34 known works, 23 separate landscapes within his painting, “Artist in His Studio”(ca. 1666–1668).
For all of his perfections, and crucial to them, Vermeer’s landscapes, most notably his two urban panoramas, “View of Delft” (1660–1661) and “The Little Street”
(1657–1658), in addition to his “Diana And Her Companions” (1655–1656) are as
strangely remote and out of time as certain Chinese ice worms (enchytraeid annelids) in Xizang, like the species Sininchytracus glacialis, which lives all year in the
1 See Sin -Ichi Fukuoka’s Vermeer: Realm of Light – Travels through art and science in pursuit of
the greatest artist of the Golden Age, Kirakusha Inc., Tokyo, 2015, Chapter 7: “A Certain
Hypothesis,” pp. 239–251.