Rijksmuseum Boerhaave

Unimaginable

Until 7 January 2024 from 10:00 to 17:00

Exhibition

A tiny microscope was all he needed to uncover an entirely new world, a world nobody had seen before. National Museum Boerhaave revisits a world first discovered by Antoni van Leeuwenhoek 350 years ago with the exhibition Unimaginable. How Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope changed the world.

Antoni who?

Antoni van Leeuwenhoek was a Dutch textile merchant who made a name for himself with his self-made microscope. He saw things that had never been seen before, discovering an entirely new world. It may be a rather unusual combination, a trader who is also a microbiologist, but Antoni regularly used magnifying lenses to check fabrics. Working with metal plates and glass globules, he eventually created a small device, a microscope that proved so excellent that it was the first ever to reveal the microworld.

Van Leeuwenhoek made hundreds of microscopes, yet only a few have been preserved worldwide. This makes it rather special that National Museum Boerhaave has no fewer than 5 of them in its collection. Van Leeuwenhoek’s microscope is so special that it was finalist in the national masterpiece contest Pronkstuk van Nederland, leaving Rembrandt’s Nightwatch behind.

Find out for yourself!

In the Unimaginable exhibition, we will bring you as close to Antoni van Leeuwenhoek as possible. You will be peering over his 17th-century shoulders, as it were. What did he see? And what made it so special? As visitors, you will experience the sense of wonder and fun of those very first peeks into the microworld.

Visitor information

Access

Included in the museum ticket.

Netherlands Museum Pass valid

Date

Until 7 January 2024 from 10:00 to 17:00

June 2023
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
Time options on 1 June 2023:
  • 10:00 - 17:00
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July 2023
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August 2023
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September 2023
Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su
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October 2023
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November 2023
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December 2023
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January 2024
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Time options on 7 January 2024:
  • 10:00 - 17:00

Location

Rijksmuseum Boerhaave

Lange St. Agnietenstraat 10
2312 WC Leiden
Plan route Plan route

071 - 75 19 999

Open today from 10:00 until 17:00

Opening hours next week
Day Opening hours
Thu - Tue 10:00 - 17:00
Overview of opening hours

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