Silbermann's Didactic Paintings in the University of Mississippi Museum
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Silbermann’s Didactic Paintings in the University of
Mississippi Museum
Paolo Brenni
Last June, during the SICU21 meeting I had
the opportunity to visit the Museum of the
University of Mississippi. The museum pre-
serves a fine collection of physics instru-
ments, but some of the most interesting
and unusual artefacts I saw there were the
splendid didactics paintings made in the
mid-19th century in Paris by Joseph Silber-
mann.
Joseph Silbermann
Ignace Joseph Silbermann was born in
1819 in the Haute-Alsace village of Neuf
Brisach. He was the younger brother of the
more famous Johann Theobald Silbermann
(1806-1865) who became curator of the
collections of the Conservatoire des Arts et
Métier in Paris and assistant of the physicist Fig. 1 A view of the physics lecture room at the University of Mississippi (early 20th cen-
Pouillet. The name of J.T. Silbermann is as- tury). On the wall, one can be seen some of the Silbermann’s paintings. The same picture
sociated with several instruments such as illustrated also the Kennon and Gladden article. See note 14. (© 2007 The University of
a mercury calorimeter (conceived with Fa- Mississippi).
bre) and a very popular heliostat.2
graved and inked in their internal surfaces. de physique des soins matériels qu’exige
Little is known about Joseph Silbermann of
He then inserted into them the flexible sub- leur enseignement : il veux que, pendant
whom I could not find any portrait. Most
stance (gutta-percha, special paper, etc.) to la leçon, le professeur puisse donner son
of the information about him is extracted
be printed and a rubber balloon. Next, the temps et son attention à l’exposition des
from a brochure which he wrote in 1871.3
balloon was inflated using steam or com- faits et des méthodes expérimentales, sans
Silbermann spend most of his active life at
pressed air so that it pressed uniformly the être obligé de dessiner lui-même tous les
the Collège de France, where between 1838
globe to be printed against the internal sur- appareils, de développer toutes les formu-
and 1841 he assisted Félix Savart (1791-
faces of the hemispheres.These were finally les, de résumer en tableaux les résultats
1841) in his researches on acoustics and
separated and the globe was ready. The op- de toutes les expériences.
hydrodynamics, and afterwards he worked
eration could be repeated many times.With
for Victor Régault (1810-1878) in the field A cet effet, M. Silbermann a rédigé un trai-
a special press, Silbermann could also print
of thermology. In 1857, he was officially té de physique dont il expose la première
plain maps, and the system could be used
appointed ‘préparateur du cours de phy- partie en un volume de 2 mètres sur 1m,5
also for producing pressed down glass.
sique’ at the Collège the France. In 1872, composé d’un grand nombre de feuilles
an inactivity leave was accorded to Silber- In the late 1860s, Silbermann who was en toile ciré avec peinture à l’huile.
mann together with an annual stipend.4 Sil- member of the Société météorologique de
Chaque feuille du volume peut être déta-
bermann died in 1892 after a long illness. France, presented various papers related
chée et suspendue dans l’amphithéâtre au
to his observations on aurora borealis, fire-
Silbermann scientific activity was multi- moment de la leçon, et le professeur peut
balls, falling stars, mirages and clouds and
faceted. Apart from the didactic tableaux y trouver résumé tout ce qui se rapporte
experimented with balloons. During the
(which we will discuss later) he invented au sujet qu’il veut traiter, en même temps
Franco-Prussian war, he made microphoto-
several instruments and in worked in various que l’élève peut en prendre copie à loisir.
graphic maps which were glued directly on
disciplines such as in physics, meteorology,
the surface of Stanhope lenses. These maps Cet ouvrage est complété par une collec-
cartography and astronomy. He improved
cost only a few cents and could easily be tion de 80 toiles, peintes à l’huile, compre-
the single-barrelled air pump (1842) and in
hidden. He participated in the universal ex- nant les principaux phénomènes chroma-
1855 he conceived a sophisticated double-
hibition in Paris (1855 and 1867), London tiques, depuis la reproduction exacte du
barrelled pump and a new type of faucet
(1862) and to the international exhibition spectre de Fraunhofer, jusqu’aux images
for it. In the 1860s Silbermann proposed a
in Amsterdam (1869) where he presented compliqués et brillantes que l’on observe
“rational and economic” set of instruments
his instruments, globes and tableaux. en employant la lumière polarisée. Les
for reproducing Regnault’s experiments.5
phénomènes météorologiques, dont, jus-
As far as topography is concerned, he tried
Silbermann’s Didactic Paintings qu’alors, on ne pouvait que donner la
to introduce a new system of contour maps
Between the early 1840s and late 1860s description orale en faisant appel aux
based on the colours of Newton’s rings!
Silbermann’s dedicated quite a lot of time souvenirs ou à l’imagination des audi-
Silbermann’s contribution in printing tech-
to drawing and painting a series of didac- teurs, sont reproduits avec une grande
nology applied to geography and cartogra-
tic tableaux. In 1855 they were displayed exactitude.”8
phy was very original. In 1855 he patented
a peculiar pneumatic method to print maps at the Paris Universal Exhibition and the And the professor and mechanical engineer
as well as terrestrial and celestial globes on report of the jurors stated: Henri Tresca (1814-1885) wrote about Sil-
surfaces of various shape.6 He was using a “M. Silbermann préparateur au college de bermann:
couple of copper or steel hemispheres7 en- France, cherche à affranchir les professeurs “…ses modèles constitue le plus bel en-
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 95 (2007)
semble que possède l’enseignement des Some of the paintings were also repro- superiority to most collegiate institutions
sciences physiques.”9 duced in the well-illustrated treatise Les in the United States.”15
phénomène de la physique of the scientific
At the 1867 exhibition Silbermann present- In fact, just before the Civil War, the physics
journalist and prolific popularizer Amedée
ed a similar collection and he was awarded collection of the University of Mississippi
Guillemin (1826-1893).13 In his foreword
an honourable mention. was certainly one of the richest and best
the author explicitly thanked his ‘excellent
equipped in America.
It is not very clear how many tableaux he ami’ Silbermann for the possibility of using
produced. In his short biographical note he his tableaux. Around 1856-1857, together with mechani-
just mentioned “une collection de cinq cent cal, optical, electrical and acoustical in-
diagrammes peints à l’huile”, which (after Silbermann’s Paintings in struments arrived also the series of Silber-
this statement) were sold in France, Russia, the Physics Collection of the mann’s paintings acquired from Lerebours
Sweden, United Kingdom, Switzerland, etc. University of Mississippi14 et Secretan for about 1000 US $. The 82
The figure of 500 seems extremely high original tableaux were used “For illustrat-
The University of Mississippi was founded
considering that they were oil paintings ing the structure of the eye, and the laws
in Oxford (Mississippi) in 1848. The first
and not some kind of prints. Silbermann of vision, models and drawings on a large
professor of natural philosophy was the
also stated that the collection was done be- scale will be introduced; and for the bet-
Englishman John Millington (1779-1868).
tween 1841 and 1869 and he estimated its ter demonstration of the laws of refrac-
Millington before arriving in the United
global value at about 20.000 francs. tion, dispersion, diffraction, interference,
States had been lecturer of natural philoso-
luminous meteors, etc. use will be made
As far as I can understand, Silbermann made phy and mechanics at the Royal Institution
of oil painting exhibiting the phenomena
two different series of illustrations: between 1815 and 1829. He served also
largely magnified.”16
at the University of London and he was
a) A very large album which fully illustrated
member of Royal Astronomical Society and Today 61 paintings survive in the collection
a physics course with hundreds of oil-
of the Linnean Society of London. Around of the Museum of the University of Missis-
cloths (‘toile ciré’) representing instru-
1830 he moved to the United States. He sippi (Fig. 2). Some of them are on display
ments, apparatus and formulas.The leaves
opened an instrument-making workshop while others are in store and badly need
could be detached from their album and
in Philadelphia and in 1835 he was elect- restoration.
hang in the lecture room, thus prevent-
ed professor at the College of William and
ing the professor from having to spend Most of the paintings are square (about 55
Mary in Virginia. He then moved to Oxford
too much time at the blackboard. x 55 centimetres), while the largest one (N.
(Mississippi), where in 1848 was elected to
1, illustrating various spectra) is rectangular
b) A series of about 80 paintings illustrat- the chair of Natural Science (which also in-
and is 163 cm wide and 78 cm high. The
ing some of the most spectacular optical cluded physics) at the newly founded uni-
images are oil painted on canvas. Some of
phenomena (spectra, chromatic polariza- versity. Millington brought to Mississippi
them are signed by the author ‘I. JOSEPH
tion, interference patterns, etc.). his collection of philosophical instruments
SILBERMANN (Jeune) Pinxit’.17 On the
(Fig. 1). A large part of it was purchased by
It is impossible to know if Silbermann made back of several painting there is other in-
the university when he left Oxford for a
more than one album and more series of formation. A number written with a chalk
chair at the Memphis Medical College.
paintings. indicate the corresponding progressive
Millington’s instruments constituted the number of Lerebour et Secretan handwrit-
In spite of various inquiries and of a long
first important core of the collection which ten list. Most of the paintings also have on
search on the Internet and in various librar-
was largely developed under Frederick A. P. the back the legend: ‘DEFORGE MD DE
ies, archives and collections, I could not
Barnard (1809-1889). Barnard, who graduat- COULEURS Atelier BDE Clichy No.7. Boul-
find any album and I only found the series
ed in Yale, after having spent a few years in evard Montmartre 8’. Bernard Deforges
of paintings preserved in the University of
various institutions, was elected professor of was one of the most important Parisian
Mississippi Museum.10 Were some of them
mathematics, astronomy and civil engineer- manufacturer and seller of varnishes, col-
simply thrown away? Are they forgotten in
ing in Oxford, where he also taught chem- ours and canvas as well as dealer of curiosi-
an attic? I hardly believe that such spectac-
istry and physics. Barnard (who remained ties.18 Since1841 his workshop was at the
ular tableaux were simply destroyed.
in Mississippi until 1861) was convinced 7, boulevard de Clichy, while the shop was
Silbermann’s paintings (but not the above- by the necessity of instruction through lec- in Boulevard Montmarte. In 1858 Deforge
mentioned album) were commercialized by ture demonstrations and experiments and went into partnership with Marie Charles
the famous French instrument makers Ler- worked very hard to provide the university Edouard Carpentier and the firm became
ebours et Secretan and were listed in their with an excellent collection of instruments. the ‘Maison Deforge-Carpentier’. Deforge
catalogue of 1853.11 The paintings were In the mid-1850s Barnard ordered a large was a supplier of artist’s materials, but his
essentially divided into various groups re- number of instruments from some of the shop also served as showroom and exhibi-
lated to: dispersion, spectra and physiologi- best makers in Paris. And in 1857 he could tion space for several painters such as Diaz,
cal optics; diffraction phenomena; polariza- state: Millet and Decamps. The largest painting
tion phenomena and meteorological optics. with the spectra has on his back the leg-
“For this purpose, apparatus has been
The prices of the paintings varied between end: ‘COLCOMB-BOURGEOIS Au Spectre
provided on the most liberal scale; the re-
25 and 100 francs, depending on the com- Solaire 18 Quai de l‘ Ecole’. After 1853 the
cent purchases having been extended to
plexity of the image. For example, the larg- firm Colcomb-Bourgeois was another well-
embrace whatever could be practically
est tableau illustrating several spectra with known supplier of varnishes, colours and
useful in impressing the facts and princi-
numerous intensity curves, was one of the canvas for artists at the address of 18 quai
ples of science upon the mind through the
most expensive ones, while a simple paint- de l’Ecole.19 Finally, a few of the paintings
eye; and all the instruments selected have
ing showing the decomposition of white have glued on the back a label bearing
been the best in their class. The University
light by a prism cost only 25 francs.12 some physical measurements related to the
is, in this respect, fairly entitled to claim
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 95 (2007)
painting on the front side.The University of Other tableaux illustrated various interfer- component to the research of Silbermann,
Mississippi preserves the detailed invoice ence phenomena such as the ones pro- who certainly was fascinated and touched
of Lerebour and Sectretan (‘Liste des Tab- duced by soap bubbles or by a thin layer by the beauty of optical phenomena. The
leaux d’Optique’), which includes the pro- of air between two glass plates seen under lower half of the same painting illustrate
gressive numbers, the short descriptions, different conditions (Newton’s ring seen various type of ice crystals, the path of the
the numbers referring to their trade cata- by reflection or by transmission of white light trough them and the different types of
logue and the prices of the paintings. The or monochromatic light). Another series of halos.
following table is based on it. paintings show the images produced by a
If we compare Silbermann’s images with
beam of convergent white light crossing a
The paintings illustrate all the most interest- modern photographs and simulations of
plate of monoaxial or biaxial crystals with
ing optical phenomena known at the time. corresponding phenomena we can see how
different orientation.The same phenomena
Not only is it impossible here to give an ac- most of them are accurate and precise. The
can be observed by inserting the crystal
curate description of all of them, but I will spectra, the interference patterns of differ-
into the so called ‘tourmaline tongues’ held
need to examine them further. I just men- ent openings and the polarization colours
closely to the eye.
are remarkably well reproduced. I person-
Tableau ally compared Silbermann’s representation
Number Short description of interference colours in a soap bubble
together with contemporary photographs
1 Spectra (sun, various metals, emission and absorption, etc.) and intensity and computer simulations of the phenom-
curves enon.The correspondence is quite striking.
2 The path of light in a raindrop. Formation of rainbow How did Silbermann made all these paint-
3 The path of light in snow and ice crystals. Formation of halos ings? It is difficult to say. Certainly some of
4 Newton’s colour disk the images, such as the famous Fraunhofer’s
5 Section of the eye solar spectrum, were copied from existing
6 Chevreul’s simultaneous colours contrast coloured plates or engravings, but certainly
7 Plateau’s colours contrast many others had to be patiently reproduced
8-12 Monoaxial crystals (Island spar and quartz with different orientations) by actually observing the real phenomena.
13-16 Biaxial crystals (nitre and aragonite with different orientations) It certainly was a time consuming and a
17 Grimaldi’s fringes and Aragos’ experiences very absorbing activity, and it is not surpris-
18 Fresnel’s fringes and Pouillet’s biprism fringes ing that Silbermann took so many years to
19 Coloured rings produced by thick plates and by lycopodium powder complete his collection.
20 Coloured rings produced by thin plates (black and white centres)
21 Newton’s rings Conclusions
22 Newton’s coloured disk Silbermann’s series of optical paintings
23 Interference colours of a soap bubble after Newton is certainly one of the most spectacular
24-67 Fringes produced by various openings and diaphragms examples of didactic tables ever made,
68-82 Various subjects (intensity diagrams, liquid wave interference, diffraction, but it remained an original and probably
etc.) unique collection of this kind. In spite of
the beauty and the accuracy of the images,
the use of oil paintings in classrooms did
tion some of the most interesting ones. Particularly interesting is the tableau de- not become popular and Silbermann’s ex-
picting a Newton’s colour disk. Certainly periment ultimately lead to a dead end.Vari-
The largest tableau which is dedicated to
Silbermann knew well Pouillet’s Eléments ous reasons can explain that. In the second
spectral analysis is particularly impressive.
de Physique expérimentale et de météorol- half of the 19th century, the introduction or
It illustrates 15 different spectra includ-
ogie, which around 1850 was one of the the improvement of colour printing tech-
ing the sun, of various metals as well as
most advanced and detailed textbook of niques such as the chromolithography and
different intensity curves. On the painting
physics. From it, Silbermann copied the the oleography (which imitates oil paint-
are mentioned the name of the scientists
Newton’s disk, to wich Pouillet had added ings), greatly increased the possibility of
(Fraunhofer, Brewster, etc.).
his modifications.20 producing cheap and large didactic wall
About half of the tableaux (more than 40) charts, which were widely used as teach-
The fascinating painting dedicated to light
illustrated the diffractions patterns of white ing aids in sciences.21 Furthermore, lantern
reflections and refractions in ice and snow
and monochromatic light produced by dia- slides began to flood the market of educa-
crystals and to the formation of luminous
phragms with single or multiple openings tional and didactic tools. Instrument mak-
halos, parhelia, arcs and pillar in the sky is
of various shapes. At the top or in a corner ers such as Molteni in Paris were listing in
quite different from all the others. The up-
of each table of this series Silbermann also their catalogues thousands and thousands
per half of the painting shows a romantic
carefully depicted the type of diaphragms of slides illustrating an impressive amount
landscape with a seacoast and a castle sur-
to be use for producing the represented dif- of historical, artistic, and of course scien-
rounded by a grove.A small boat is sailing in
fraction pattern. The remarkable (and per- tific subjects.
front of the shore where a red dressed fig-
haps excessive) number of these paintings
ure is comfortably lying down and is clearly Last but not least, since the 1850s an in-
certainly demonstrated the interest aroused
observing some spectacular halos sur- creasing number of improved instruments,
by this kind of phenomena but also (I sus-
rounding a pale sun near the horizon. I will which allowed an objective presentation of
pect) a certain pleasure of Silbermann in
not pretend that the scene is a remarkable optical experiments were introduced. For
producing an extraordinary variety of im-
example of mid-19th century painting; nev- example, the famous Parisian instrument
ages which demonstrated his skill and his
ertheless it probably indicates an aesthetic makers Jules Duboscq proposed a kind of
mastering in reproducing them.
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 95 (2007)Fig. 2 A series of paintings displayed at the
University of Mississippi Museum. In the
foreground the sphere representing the
Sun in the 19th century Barlow’s plan-
etarium.
universal apparatus for projecting a remark- an actual luminous spectrum projected on Acknowledgements
able number of polarization phenomena, an a screen is certainly not comparable with I would like to thank Dr. Albert Sperath, di-
improved arc lamp, which was a strong and its photograph or printed image). Further- rector of the University of Mississippi Mu-
reliable source of light for projectors and more, most of them can be demonstrated in seum and Dr. Maribeth Stolzenburg, Assist-
several other devices for showing to a large a kind of dynamic way. Changing the width ant Director of Research at the Department
audience phenomena that before could of a micrometric split, the orientation of a of Physics and Astronomy.
be observed only subjectively by looking polarizer, a crystal or an analyzer, the posi-
through an eyepiece. In a few years the tion of a prism can modify the resultant im- Without their constant help in answering
most important French, German and Brit- ages.Therefore, I do believe that, even more to my endless questions and in providing
ish physical instrument makers introduced than the introduction of printed wall charts documents and photographs, I could not
all these devices (and many similar ones) in or of the use scientific slides, the improve- have written this article.
their catalogues. These apparatus remained ments of teaching instruments and ‘demon-
in the standard equipment of didactic phys- stration technology’ marked the definitive
ics cabinets well in the 20th century. end of Silberman’s tableaux.
In fact, even if perfectly reproduced graphi-
cally and chromatically, the variety, the
complexity and the beauty of optical phe-
nomena of dispersion, diffraction interfer-
ence, polarization can be fully appreciated
only with the direct observation of the
phenomena themselves. (The splendour of
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 95 (2007)Notes and References 7. These were generally obtained by elec- 17. ‘Jeune’, because J. I. Silbermann was
1. SICU2: An International Workshop on troplating a matrix plaster globe. younger than his brother.
Historic Scientific Instrument Collections 8. Exposition Universelle de 1855, Rap- 18. See S. Constantin, ‘The Barbizon Paint-
sponsored by The Scientific Instrument port du Jury mixte intérnational, Vol. 1 ers: A Guide to their Suppliers’, Studies in
Commission and The University of Missis- (Paris, 1856), p. 438. Conservation, 46-1 (2001), pp. 49-67.
sippi held on 21-24 June 2007 at Oxford,
Mississippi, USA. 9. H.Tresca, Visite à l’Exposition Universel- 19. See Constantin (previous note), p.52.
le de Paris, en 1855 (Paris, 1855), p. 414.
2. It is possible to find the Christian names 20. In spite of the fact that certainly by the
of Silbermann reported both in French and 10. Even at the Collège de France where Sil- mid-19th century the Newton disk was old
in German. bermann worked for so many years there is fashioned (it was based on ancient musi-
no trace of them. cal theories) it was still widely used. It
3. See J. Silbermann, Courte notice sur remained, in fact, the standard tool for dis-
le principaux travaux scientifiques de 11. Lerebours et Sectretan, Catalogue et
cussing the mixture of colour light until
Joseph Silbermann (Paris, 1871). prix des instruments (Paris, 1853), pp. 37,
the researches of Helmholtz and Maxwell.
44-46, 120.
4. I would like to thank here Mme Claire Rich Kramer, who kindly gave me interest-
Guttinger of the archives of the Collège de 12. However in the Lerebours et Sectretan ing information on this topic, is preparing
France for the precious information which invoice sent to the University of Mississip- an article on it: Newton’s Color Wheel and
she was able to find for me. pi the prices varied between 15 and 180 its Visual Grammar in the Eighteenth and
francs. Early Nineteenth Centuries
5. See J. Krist,‘Regnault’s apparate zur unter-
suchung der Compressibilität, Ausdehnung, 13. Guillemin used these illustration in 21. M. Bucchi, ‘Images of Science in the
spezifische Wàrme u.s.w in der ihnen von some other work such as in Le monde phy- Classroom: wallcharts and science educa-
J.Silbermann gegebebe Eirichtung’, Carl’s sique, 5 volumes (Paris, 1881-1885). tion 1850–1920’, The British Journal for
Repertorium der physikalische Technik, 2 the History of Science, 31-2 (1998), pp 161-
14. About the history of the physics depart-
(1867), pp. 64-105. 184.
ment and the physics collection of the Uni-
6. Various of Silbermann’s globes are pre- versity of Mississippi see: Stanford C. Glad-
served at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Par- den Sanford, A History of the Department Author’s address:
is. Globes could be also relief printed, see of Physics and Astronomy at the Universi- Via Motta 27
J. Silbermann, ‘Pour un nouveau procédé ty of Mississippi 1848-1932 (Oxford, 1933; CH-6850 Mendrisio, Switzerland
d’impression sur toute espèce de surfaces reprint 1994), and also W. L. Kennon, Stan- e-mail: pbrenni@imss.fi.it
(Brevet d’invention de 15 ans N. 12918, 19 ford C. Gladden,‘Historical Apparatus at the
mai 1855)’, Description des machines et University of Mississippi’, The American
procédés pour lesquels des brevets d’inven- Physic Teacher, 6 (1938), pp. 1-7.
tions ont été pris, 45 (1863), pp. 285-285. 15. See Gladden, 1933 (op.cit note 14) pp.
See also J. Silbermann , ‘Improved Printing 94-95.
Apparatus’, Mechanics’ Magazine, (13 Nov.
1858), pp. 464-466. 16. Ibid., p. 101.
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 95 (2007)The images of the scientific tableaux are as follows:
Top left: Interference fringes in a soap bubble
Top centre: Transmission and reflection Newton's rings with white light, Newton’ s rings with various
monochromatic lights
Top right: Explanation of Newton’s rings (white and red monochromatic light)
Middle left: Monoaxial crystal in convergent polarized white light
Middle centre: Biaxial crystal in convergent polarized white light
Middle right: Newton’s disk
Bulletin of the Scientific Instrument Society No. 95 (2007)Top: Spectra and intensity curves
Bottom: The reflections and refractions
in ice crystals and the
formation of halos and
parhelia
(© 2007 The University of Mississippi)
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