Jan Luyken: The Workings of the Eye, 1682 – Porcelain Art Mug

In 1682 the Amsterdam publisher Willem Goeree issued his Natuurlyk en schilderkonstig ontwerp der menschkunde — an anatomy written for painters who wanted to understand the body they were drawing. For the chapter on the eye he turned to Jan Luyken, the finest etcher in the city.

Luyken's plate shows the whole path of sight in one image: a candle at the left, its rays entering both eyes, the optic nerves winding back through the skull to the brain. It is anatomy as an artist saw it — drawn with the same hand that made Luyken's poems and his martyr scenes, two decades before Newton published his Opticks.

This mug bears the central plate, marked II, from the 1682 edition — printed across the full porcelain surface with its original paper tone. The fourth product image shows the complete sheet with the printed detail marked, so the crop is visible for what it is.

Fine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. The image runs around the body; handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

From the same series: Dirk Willems Saves His Pursuer, 1685

Jan Luyken, plate marked I–III, etching and letterpress, in Willem Goeree, Natuurlyk en schilderkonstig ontwerp der menschkunde, Amsterdam 1682. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, RP-P-1896-A-19368. Van Eeghen 484. Public domain.

Selected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.