Microscope

Katsushika Hokusai, artist

1760–1849

Microscope, circa 1800–1805, Edo period (1600–1868)

Where object was made: Japan

Material/technique: color woodcut

Dimensions:
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 196 x 136 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 196 x 136 mm
Image Dimensions Height/Width (Height x Width): 7 11/16 x 5 3/8 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 19 x 14 in

Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial

Accession number: 0000.1392

Not on display

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Collection Cards: STEM

The earliest form of the microscope was the magnifying glass, which was often used to look at insects. But it wasn’t until the invention of the first dual lense microscope in around 1590 that scientists were able to examine materials that had not been seen before, like blood cells and bacteria.

If you were to look at butterfly wings under a microscope, what do you think they would look like?

What would you like to look at under a microscope?

Civic Leader and Art Collector: Sallie Casey Thayer and an Art Museum for KU

This delicate print features a microscope, tilted mirror, and butterfly resting on a lacquer stand. Japanese intellectuals collected natural specimens and studied Western science and medicine during the Edo period (1600–1868). Through its imagery and poetry, the print raises questions about ways of knowing and human existence.

Above the microscope, a poem by Senraian Nagaki reflects Chinese philosophy. Waking from a vivid dream that he was a butterfly, the Daoist philosopher Zhuang Zu questioned whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming he was a man. “Wide awake, the butterfly playing mid the brilliant yellow flowers must be the dream of a half-drunk.”

As privately commissioned woodblock prints, artists often used more expensive paints and a special extra fine paper for surimono (printed thing). In order to preserve the yellow pigment that adorns the butterfly, this print remains covered against the light when not being studied.