Neat Nature

The Relation between Nature and Art in a Dutch Cabinet of Curiosities from the Early Eighteenth Century

Bibliographic Data

ID4392785
AuthorsBert Van De Roemer (University of Amsterdam, corresponding author)
Year2004
Volume42
Issue1
Pages47-84
Publication date2004-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0073-2753 • E-ISSN: 1753-8564
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/007327530404200102
OpenAlexW2105371781
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited5

In collections of the early modern period, the combination of art and nature could accomplish attractive results.A good example of this is still to be seen at the Zoological Museum in Amsterdam, where three drawers containing shells, dating from the beginning of the eighteenth century, survive in the collections (Figure 1). 1 In the drawers, each shell resides, species by species, on a bed of white silk, within a little compartment of its own bounded by slats painted blue.The drawers as a whole make up an elegant assemblage of colourful shells, arranged in geometrical patterns.These designs served a practical function, in that the shells were prevented from rolling around in the drawer; but they also served a less prosaic purpose: the harmonious arrangements enhanced the sensory pleasure engendered by the collection.Modern viewers can still appreciate the beauty of the drawers.In this article I will investigate some of the rationales that were responsible for this peculiar arrangement of shells, but first I will sketch briefly the cultural setting in which these objects should be placed.The drawers originate from one of the many private bourgeois collections of curiosities in which Holland was so rich during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Just as in other European countries, collecting was a recognized pastime and many Dutch burghers possessed a so-called rariteitenkabinet 2 (cabinet of rarities).An illustrative cross-section of Dutch collectors is offered in the inexhaustible travel account of Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach (1683-1734), Merkwürdige reisen durch Niedersachsen, Holland und Engelland (published 1753-54).During his stay in Holland in the first months of 1711, the traveller visited some fifty collections in Amsterdam.Together with his brother, this learned bibliophile from Frankfurt saw cabinets belonging to persons of different professions such as officials, tradesmen, merchants, artisans, apothecaries and physicians.The quality varied from little assortments related to workshops to distinguished museums of wealthy regents. 3 Sometimes, the quality of these collections could be exceptionally high.Von Uffenbach was amazed at the exquisite collection of Greek coins in the cabinet of Jacob de Wilde (1645-1721), and commented that nowhere was an assemblage of similar excellence to be found, not even in the Royal Cabinet in Paris.As a high official of the Admiralty in Amsterdam, de Wilde was able to give special commissions to captains who sailed to foreign countries, and who hoped to make a good impression by fulfilling his wishes.Apart from the coins, von Uffenbach also paid attention to the library, the antique gems and statuettes, and the mathematical instruments.There was no star in heaven, asserted de Wilde

Archaeology · Art · Art history · Cabinet (room · Relation (database · Classics · Computer Science · Historical Philosophy and Science · History · History of Science and Natural History · Reformation and Early Modern Christianity

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access