Massimo Listri. Cabinet of Curiosities. 40th Ed. - (40th Edition) by Antonio Paolucci & Giulia Carciotto (Hardcover)

About the Book

Cabinets of curiosities fascinated people of the 16th and 17th centuries. They offered a glimpse into a world full of natural wonders and treasures that aimed to reflect the order of the universe. This volume takes us through the world's most beautiful collections, into the Medici treasury or the Green Vault (Grünes Gewölbe) of Dresden, and offers no less than a brief cultural history of the miraculous.

Book Synopsis

The Wunderkammer, or "cabinet of curiosities," saw collectors gathering objects from many strands of artistic, scientific, and intellectual endeavor, in an ambitious attempt to encompass all of humankind's knowledge in a single room.

From the Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici and Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II to Archduke Ferdinand II of Habsburg, these aristocratic virtuosos acquired, selected, and displayed the objects in real-life catalogues that represented the entire world--spanning architecture, interior design, painting, sculpture, gemology, geology, botany, biology and taxonomy, astrology, alchemy, anthropology, ethnography, and history.

Marvel at the unicorn horns (narwhal tusks), gems, rare coral growths, Murano glasswork, paintings and peculiar mechanical automata. Browse through illustrations of exotic and mythical creatures and discover the famed "Coburg ivories," an astounding collection of crafted artifacts. These collections are nothing short of a journey through time, from the Renaissance and Age of Discovery, the Mannerist and Baroque periods, up to the present day. Many of these cabinets of curiosities no longer exist, others have been meticulously reconstructed, and new ones born.

These marvelous cabinets of curiosities can now be explored by all in this collection. To realize this mammoth undertaking, Massimo Listri traveled to seven European countries over several decades; the result is a set of gorgeous photographs, an authoritative yet accessible introduction, and detailed commentary on each of the 19 chambers highlighting the most remarkable items in each collection. Discover how these timeless treasures both describe and defined civilization, the modern concept of the museum, and our very knowledge of the universe.

Review Quotes

"A glimpse inside historic collections of miraculous miscellany."-- "Town & Country"

"The cabinet of curiosities celebrated the act of collection for its own sake--an almost random accumulation of natural-history specimens and other bizarre objects."-- "The Guardian"