The Revolutionary Compound Microscope
What can you see through an 18th-century lens?
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The Revolutionary Compound Microscope
At Getty, we've been exploring how art and science collide with the plethora of exhibitions that are PST. Join conservator Arlen Heginbotham as he unboxes a French compound microscope. Made of gilt-bronze and turquoise sharkskin housed in a leather casing, it is a unique, hand-made work of art.
It was also one of the most advanced scientific instruments of its day. Take a look as we put its hand-carved lenses through their paces and see if we can see the eye of a flea, or the scales of the wings on a butterfly.