The turned boxwood base holds a small spherical ivory container with a screw lid. Inside the container is a model of the eyeball—with all its parts—that can be taken apart. The detachable base houses a wooden model of the external part of the eye. The eyeball structure is as described by Giovan Battista Verle in a pamphlet published in Florence in 1679 (Anatomia artifitiale dell'occhio umano, inventata e fabbricata nuovamente da Gio-Battista Venetiano), dedicated to Ferdinand de' Medici, Prince of Tuscany. Provenance: Medici collections.