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Inv.
2563 V.43 Binocular telescope c. 1675 Chérubin d'Orléans Wood, leather, grained leather Length circa 1050 mm |
Description The instrument consists of four rectangular sections containing two small telescopes: the eyepieces are at the larger end, the objectives at the smaller. All the sections are made of wood; they are painted black on the inside, and on the outside, the largest section is covered with black grained leather, the others are covered with green leather with gold tooling and with the coat-of-arms of the Medici family in the centre. On the edges is the image of a cherub, the symbolic signature of the maker. The two inner tubes, in parchment, are now incomplete in some parts. The composite eyepiece is formed of three lenses. This binocular telescope is described for the first time in the work by the Capuchin friar Chérubin d'Orléans, La dioptrique oculaire [Ocular dioptrics], published in 1671 in Paris. The presence of the Medici coat-of-arms indicates that Chérubin himself made the instrument for Cosimo III de' Medici, probably in the 1670s. This instrument can enlarge objects 15 times. |
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