Wunderkammern/Kunstkammern/Naturalienkammern

Esta copa, realizada por el orfebre de Augsburgo para el archiduque Fernando II de Tirol, desafía muchas de las categorías con las que se suele pensar el arte: en ella se fusiona lo religioso y lo secular; lo artificial y lo natural; la artesanía con las bellas artes; lo doméstico y lo exótico; lo europeo con los objetos traídos desde otros continentes.
Arte de Mirar. La Panera n. 85, agosto 2017.

Samuel Quiccheberg
Introduction by Mark A. Meadow
Translation by Mark A. Meadow and Bruce Robertson

Samuel Quiccheberg’s Inscriptiones, first published in Latin in 1565, is an ambitious effort to demonstrate the pragmatic value of curiosity cabinets, or Wunderkammern, to princely collectors in sixteenth-century Europe and, by so doing, inspire them to develop their own such collections. Quiccheberg shows how the assembly and display of physical objects offered nobles a powerful means to expand visual knowledge, allowing them to incorporate empirical and artisanal expertise into the realm of the written word. But in mapping out the collectability of the material world, Quiccheberg did far more than create a taxonomy. Rather, he demonstrated how organizing objects made their knowledge more accessible; how objects, when juxtaposed or grouped, could tell a story; and how such strategies could enhance the value of any single object.

Quiccheberg’s descriptions of early modern collections provide both a point of origin for today’s museums and an implicit critique of their aims, asserting the fundamental research and scholarly value of collections: collections are to be used, not merely viewed. The First Treatise on Museums makes Quiccheberg’s now rare publication available in an English translation. Complementing the translation are a critical introduction by Mark A. Meadow and a preface by Bruce Robertson.

“[This book] is a milestone in the critical analysis of the origins and development of the concept of collecting and museums.”
—Renaissance Quarterly

“The value for us today is in having ‘a consummate insider’s account of the foundation of the museum as an institution.’ Endnotes and color plates expand this scholarly look at early collecting. Cultural anthropologists and collectors will appreciate Quiccheberg’s insights and descriptions of creating the ultimate Wunderkammer.”
—Maine Antique Digest

“[a] highly readable translation.”
—Sixteenth Century Journal

188 pages
7 x 10 inches
8 color and 17 b/w illustrations
ISBN 978-1-60606-149-7
paperback

Getty Publications
Imprint: Getty Research Institute
Series: Texts and Documents

2013

Rembrandt, Rubens, Permoser: Glory and Splendour of Baroque Art Collections in Leipzig. Notes on the History of Collecting in Leipzig around 1700

The history of art has largely ignored the city of Leipzig. When studing early modern collection practice in Saxony, interest is traditionally oriented to the important electoral collections in Dresden. This finding is even more noteworthy since earlier studies have shown the considerable level and great diversity of the former civic collecting culture in Leipzig. Thus, over 90 collections with more than 100 collectors can be found from the beginnings, documented already in the 16th century. The collectors included wealthy bankers and merchants as well as pharmacists, scholars, and even artists. The article takes this academic lacuna as an opportunity to highlight the long history of private art collecting in Leipzig. It surveys a range from the early baroque "Wunderkammer" to esquisite 18th-century collections of paintings, prints, and drawings.

ABSTRACT
This study is an investigation and interpretation of the Kunstkammer and collection of Catherine of Austria (1507-1578), youngest sister of Charles V and Queen of Portugal. Neglected by Portuguese historians and art historians alike, a wealth of unpublished material (correspondence, inventories, household records, payment accounts and receipts) in the Archivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo in Lisbon have revealed that the Portuguese Queen owned the largest collection of exotica and oriental ware in Europe, during the first half of the sixteenth century, and was an active patron. The mechanics of the Queen's household and court within the context of ceremonial and etiquette, and its relation to her collection, collecting activities and practices are examined, as are the artists, goldsmiths, craftsmen and artisans patronized at the Lisbon court. Transcriptions and translations of six royal inventories and a catalogue of over 400 related documents (with annotated notes) from 1525 to 1570 are provided in the appendices, including a glossary of sixteenth century terms.

A preliminary reconstruction of the contents of the Queen's collection housed in the Lisbon palace, and its expenditures is made. Catherine's collecting practices bridged two traditions: the medieval treasury (Schatzkammer) and the cabinet of curiosities (Wunderkammer). Her goal, highly personal and eclectic, was not to collect in an encyclopaedic fashion. Aside from costly objects, a portrait and tapestry collection was assembled, prefiguring the portrait galleries in sixteenth-century Spanish royal residences. Catherine's collection became a personal reflection of her status as Queen, while its importance lay in its administration and organization, unique among her contemporaries.

Questions of common patterns of patronage and collecting among Habsburg queens, regents and princesses in the sixteenth century are raised, and in what manner Catherine of Austria's collection fits into this context, that of collecting in sixteenth-century Portugal and other contemporary Renaissance princely collections. The analysis of Catherine's documentation provides facts about these patterns and offers more about collecting practices from the mid- to late sixteenth century.

The kunst-und-wunderkammer or as it is known now, Cabinet of Curiosities, is a
practice by aristocratic Northern European collectors to create an assemblage of artifacts
from a collector’s travels as well as objects they commissioned for their collections. It is
also important to note that this practice was embraced not only in Northern Europe but
also in Italy, where it was known as a studiolo. The cabinet is best represented in prints as
a way of visualizing the collection. These prints also served as a tool to assist viewers in
learning the organization of the cabinet, allowing them to access the knowledge of the
collector himself. This method was part of a mnemonic practice called the “art of
memory.” It is a memory device that allowed an individual to remember a large amount
of information and retain it. Essentially, the cabinet was a physical manifestation of the
art of memory, the prints serving to outline the kunst-und-wunderkammer for the viewer
to help them understand and mentally organize the collection. This discussion will center
on the use of prints depicting sixteenth-century kunst-und-wunderkammers as visual
representations of mnemonic systems of organization.

Published by Annemarie Jordan in 
Jahrbuch der Kunsthistorischen Sammlungen in Wien, vol. 87 (1991), pp. 121-126.

This article details the archival documents found in Torre do Tombo archive in Lisbon, and which document for the first time the purchase of a rare Indian rock crystal elephant Queen Catherine of Portugal bought in Lisbon. She later gave this special object to her niece, Juana of Austria, who in turn gifted it to her nephew Rudolf II of Prague. It is a rare Kunstkammer object from this queen's famed collection to have survived and is today one of the highlights of the newy renovated Kunstkammer in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Archduke Ferdinand II of Austria. A Second-Born Son in Renaissance Europe
Edited by:

Sylva DOBALOVÁ
is Researcher at the Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences

Jaroslava HAUSENBLASOVÁ
is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Czech History, Faculty of Arts of Charles University of Prague


ISBN 978-3-7001-8501-7
Print Edition
ISBN 978-3-7001-8972-5
Online Edition
Veröffentlichungen zur Kunstgeschichte  21 
Sitzungsberichte der phil.-hist. Klasse  909 
2021,  568 Seiten, zahlr. sw-und Farbabb., 22,5x15cm, broschiert, englisch
€  98,00

The Kunstkammer of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) in Prague was one of early modern Europe's most famed princely collections. Part of this renown stemmed from the collection's abundance of rare, exotic, costly and artfully produced objects. However, Rudolf's Kunstkammer not only contained copious numbers of diverse objects, it also housed many objects that took copiousness (that is, sexual fertility and seasonal productivity) as their subject. This essay considers how copiousness affected the use of Rudolf's collection. In the end, it reveals that copiousness complicated and made difficult the use of Rudolf's collection on both a practical and an interpretative level.

В книге на основании архивных документов, опубликованных материалов и исследований представлены в хронологическом порядке основные события, связанные с историей музея, формированием фондов, экспонированием коллекций, работой сотрудников первого российского музея — Кунсткамеры. Представленный событийный ряд освещает государственное, просветительское значение музея, его неразрывную связь с Академией наук, формированием как естественных, так и гуманитарных наук в России. Книга предназначена для историков науки, музейного дела и для всех тех, кто интересуется российской историей.

A 1627 description of a peculiar "item" in the Gonzaga of Mantua collection may hint to the early presence of a shrunken head in Italy; at any rate, in 16th century the existence of ceremonial tsantsas was already known, described and illustrated in Europe

The Kunstkammer of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (1552–1612) in Prague was one of early modern Europe’s most famed princely collections. Part of this renown stemmed from the collection’s abundance of rare, exotic, costly and artfully produced objects. However, Rudolf’s Kunstkammer not only contained copious numbers of diverse objects, it also housed many objects that took copiousness (that is, sexual fertility and seasonal productivity) as their subject. This essay considers how copiousness affected the use of Rudolf’s collection. In the end, it reveals that copiousness complicated and made difficult the use of Rudolf’s collection on both a practical and an interpretative level.

Introduction into the colllections of North American Native Art in German museums. General description of the Exhibtion catalogue: "Art is fascinatingly diverse in its broad spectrum: from Native American Art and works from the colonial period to the masters of American Realism and Abstract Expressionism. Once Upon a Time in America reflects on the artistic development spanning three centuries and impressively proves that there is not just ‘one’ American art history, but rather a multitude – not least through its rare insight into the pictorial worlds of Native Americans"

Museografia di Caspar Fiedrich Neickel, edito in tedesco e in caratteri gotici a Lipsia e Breslavia nel 1727, per i tipi di Michael Hubert, appare finalmente tradotto e in caratteri latini. A fronte dell’imponente produzione di cataloghi pubblicati tra la fine del secolo XVII e gli inizi del successivo, che ancora custodiscono e diffondono l’eidos delle singole collezioni di naturalia e artificialia, l’opera di Neickel anagramma di Einckel, si offre quale prima immagine d’insieme del panorama collezionistico europeo. L’indagine sulle forme e la denominazione delle varie tipologie museali, gli interrogativi sulla genesi del collezionismo e sui musei un tempo famosi nel mondo, l’individuazione delle biblioteche e dei testi indispensabili per risolvere gli interrogativi che un museo detemina, il tentativo di fornire una definizione chiara ed esauriente dei naturalia ed artificialia, dei mirabilia, e persino una sorta di decalogo – venticinque regole in realtà – sul modo più corretto per affrontare una visita ad un museo, trovano in Nieckel uno spazio  assolutamente originale.

Dai "mostri umani" agli ominidi preistorici, dalle creature della mitologia greca ai "freak" del movimento del 1977 fino ai tentativi di rappresentare il Covid-19, l'essere mostruoso è spesso preso tra una molteplicità di saperi e pratiche a cavallo di filosofia, medicina e politica. L'incontro, che riunisce un artista e quattro studiosi del mostruoso, presenterà delle ricerche in fieri che affrontano il mostruoso da prospettive diverse, ma concependolo come una figura che permette di ripensare alcune categorie antropologiche, così come la tensione tra etica ed estetica.

Στην προσπάθειά του να βρει μια ελληνική λέξη που να αποδίδει ορθά τον όρο «Wunderkammer» ο Michael Bernhard Valentini (1657-1729) στο έργο του Museum Musearum (1704/14), το οποίο είναι ένα από τα πρώτα και σημαντικότερα έργα μουσειολογείας και πρόδρομος της εγκυκλοπαίδειας,  αναφέρει τρεις λέξεις: το «θαυματοφυλάκιον», το «φυσιοτεχνοταμείον» και τέλος το «εξωτικοθαυματουργηματοταμείον», επισημαίνοντας πως η λέξη αυτή «έχει μάκρος δέκα πήχες / αν όχι τη μισή διάμετρο της γης· και έχει κρυώσει η καυτή σου σούπα, μέχρι και μόνο μια φορά την πεις» (...)

Friedrich Gerschow (1568–1635) visited as preceptor of the young duke
Philipp Julius von Pommern-Wolgast (1584–1625) the landgrave's residence city of Kassel in the summer of 1602. He witnessed the ambitious undertakings
of Landgrave Moritz von Hessen-Kassel (1572–1632), who had ruled since 1592. His travel diary, which has only partly been edited so far, is an important source for the buildings and works of art in Kassel. Above all, it contains the earliest and most detailed description of the Kassel Kunstkammer. The article edits the relevant passages of the travel diary for the first time and classifies the source historically and art-historically.

Friedrich Gerschow (1568–1635) besuchte als Begleiter des jungen Herzogs
Philipp Julius von Pommern-Wolgast (1584–1625) im Sommer 1602 die landgräfliche Residenzstadt Kassel. Er wurde Zeuge der ehrgeizigen Unternehmungen
des seit 1592 regierenden Landgrafen Moritz von Hessen-Kassel (1572–1632). Sein Reisetagebuch, das bislang nur in Auszügen ediert ist, stellt eine wichtige Quelle für die Bau- und Kunstwerke in Kassel dar. Vor allem enthält es die früheste und bislang ausführlichste Beschreibung der Kasseler Kunstkammer. Der Beitrag ediert erstmals die relevanten Passagen und ordnet die Quelle historisch und kunsthistorisch ein.

This paper explores the representation of nature in the work of the German goldsmith Wenzel Jamnitzer (1507-85) and the French ceramicist Bernard Palissy (1510-90). Their artefacts are similar in the use of plants and animals 'cast from life' - Jamnitzer perfected his casting techniques in silver, and Palissy produced a range of ceramic casts of animals, plants and shells, which covered the entire surface of his plates and jugs. However, the artists' writings reveal fundamentally different approaches to the natural world: Jamnitzer claimed privileged insight into nature through his understanding of mathematics and cosmology, and aimed to elevate the status of his art through this association with the liberal arts and the ancients.
In contrast, Palissy believed that he had direct and unmediated knowledge, declaring that his only sources were the Bible and the Book of nature. He presented himself as an uneducated 'simple artisan' who did not read Latin or Greek, and gained knowledge solely through observation and experience, searching the 'bowels of the earth' for the secrets of nature.

Als "Donnerkeile" wurden prähistorische geschliffene Steingeräte und Belemniten bezeichnet, da man die Vorstellung hatte, dass diese in den Wolken entstehen und bei Gewitter mit dem Blitz zusammen auf der Erde einschlagen würden. Ihnen wurden im Volksglauben allerlei magische Fähigkeiten und heilende Wirkungen zugeschrieben, sie dienten noch bis in die 1940er in ländlichen Regionen Deutschlands im Dachstuhl verbaut als Schutz vor Blitzschlag. Diese Vorstellungen gehen auf die Ausführungen Plinius d. Ä. in der Naturalis Historiae zurück und wurden im Mittelalter weiter verbreitet. Erst Michele Mercati erkannte, dass es sich um prähistorische Steinartefakte handelte. Diese Interpretation setzte sich jedoch nur allmählich und unter Einbeziehung ethnographischer Parallelen durch.

A survey on the history of wax portraits, from antiquity to the present day.

Diploma di Perfezionamento su L'insegnamento della Storia dell'arte: metodologie e tecniche per la didattica, FOR.COM., Consorzio Interuniversitario, a.a. 2012-2013 (sessione luglio 2013).
Lo studio analizza la storia della scultura in cera, con particolare riferimento al ritratto, dalle origini nell'Antichità greco-romana, alla sua fortuna nel Medioevo nell'ambito della produzione votiva, fino alla riscoperta del ritratto realistico nel Rinascimento, per giungere alla gloriosa stagione dei ritratti a grandezza naturale di epoca barocca e alla loro evoluzione verso il Museo delle cere, fenomeno di grande diffusione e popolarità tra Sette e Ottocento. La ricerca, partendo dal fondamentale saggio di Julius von Schlosser dedicato all'argomento nel 1911, mira a indagare le finalità e i caratteri di questa produzione, oscillante tra i preziosismi virtuosistici ed elitari delle piccole cere del Cinquecento, apprezzate negli ambienti di corte, a contesti invece in cui la ceroplastica ha assolto a una funzione comunicativa rivolta a un grande pubblico, ma non per questo necessariamente di scarsa qualità. Lo studio evidenzia inoltre le potenzialità di questo tema in ambito didattico, sottolineando i legami della scultura in cera con alcuni fenomeni ben noti della storia dell'arte, affrontati anche nei programmi liceali (ad esempio la ritrattistica romana o le sculture di Degas) e propone inoltre un possibile itinerario attraverso le più interessanti testimonianze di questa produzione conservate nei musei di Torino.

Überlegungen zu Verwendung und Deutung des Edelmetalls Silber in der Goldschmiedekunst des Erzgebirges im 16. Jahrhundert anhand verschiedenster Objektbeispiele: Die Knappschaftsinsignien von Freiberg, Medaillen und Handsteine des Concz Welcz und Caspar Ulich, Goldschmiede aus St. Joachimsthal, und das Freiberger Ratskruzifix. Ein Kokosnusspokal aus dem Grünen Gewölbe Dresden wird als mögliches Werk des Concz Welcz vorgeschlagen. / Insights into the use and understanding of silver and silver ore in 16th century art production located at the ore mining cities of Erzgebirge, Freiberg and St. Joachimsthal.

In the sixteenth century, a new kind of pragmatic, knowledge-oriented collection emerged in southern Germany. Called Kunst- and Wunderkammern, these new museums were intimately linked to the emergence of the modern nation state and the associated requirements of economic, political, and social management. Requiring enormous expenditures of intellectual, technical, and financial capital to assemble, these museums necessarily served useful purposes. Understood in this way, the modern scholarly preoccupation with “wonder” as the core concept at play in these collections becomes problematic. In this lecture, Mark Meadow will consider the neo-Aristotelian concept of phronesis—practical wisdom or prudence—as an alternative way of conceptualizing the work of these early museums.

I mitten av 1600-talet får en ny systematisk samlingskultur fotfäste i Norden. Förebilderna kommer från furstehov och universitet på kontinenten. Med det ökade intresset för samlande av naturalia, artificialia, pretiosa, antikviteter med mera i konst- och raritetskammare, gallerier, bibliotek, botaniska trädgårdar och anatomiska teatrar följer även ett intresse för samlingar i pappersform. Detaljrika inventarier förs över samlingarna, samlingskataloger trycks och sprids, emblemböcker skaffas för utsmyckning av arkitektur, loci-samlingar köps in för undervisning och bibliografier skrivs över fiktiva boksamlingar. Dissekerade kroppar, djur och blommor målas av och skärs i trä eller graveras i koppar, och tillsammans med listor av olika slag infogas de i vetenskapliga verk.

I paperet ämnar jag att diskutera ett urval av de typer av pappersbaserade samlingar som förekommer i Norden utifrån ett idé- och museihistoriskt perspektiv. Jag vil belysa de roller papperssamlingarna spelar i den alltomfattande samlingskultur som präglar århundradet och i framväxten av ett institutionellt samlingsväsende i Sverige och Danmark-Norge. Särskilt viktigt är frågan om på vilket sätt samlingarnas strukturer relaterar till den samtida utvecklingen av minne-, kunskaps-, klassifikations- och utställningsteori och bidrar till utvecklingen av tekniker för kunskapshantering, kunskapsförmedling och inlärning.

Detta paper argumenterar för att papperssamlingarna, med sin strukturella och teoretiserande karaktär, bidrar med något av det särpräglade i 1600-talets samlingskultur. Utan dessa skulle de materiella föremålen inte kunna erhålla kunskapsmässiga värden eller positioneras i övergripande kunskapsstrukturer. Med paperet vill jag bidra till studiet av papperssamlingarna som kunskapsteoretiska verktyg som inte bör ses på som sekundära i relation till de fysiska föremålen i museernas samlingar, men som något primärt i det systematiska och institutionella samlandets utveckling, ett kunskapsteoretisk fundament som det moderna museiväsendet vilar på och får sin betydelse ifrån.

A component of early modern representation but also knowledge organization were art and curiosity chambers. This essay examines the origins, order, and function of three exemplary "Nordic" objects - Sami magic drums, supposed unicorn horns, and the rostrum of the saw-ox - that were widely used in Kunstkammern. The focus is on the collections of the Scandinavian monarchies, especially Denmark, the collection of Ole Worm and the art collection of the Saxon electors in Dresden.
The essay serves as an in-depth companion to the digital exhibition "Musea Borealia" (https://museaborealia.cargo.site).

Publikationsansicht. 5673796. The development of Catherine of Austria's collection in the Queen's household : its character and cost / (1994). Jordan, Annemarie. Abstract. Thesis (Ph. D.)--Brown University, 1994.. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 439-452).. Photocopy ...

La présente journée d’études vient clore le séminaire de
lectures en sciences sociales de l’École française de Rome,
consacré cette année à la question des choses. Les sciences
sociales, qui se sont définies par l’étude des humains, de
leurs relations et de leurs représentations, accordent une
place de plus en plus remarquée aux choses. Que ce soit en
relançant l’étude de la culture matérielle, en proposant une
anthropologie symétrique ouverte aux non-humains, ou en
amorçant un « tournant ontologique » en sciences sociales,
les choses ne sont plus cantonnées aux statuts de témoins et
de sources, et sont désormais enchevêtrées dans des relations
sociales qu’elles organisent. L’instrument inerte, fabriqué et
manipulé cèderait donc la place aux choses animant le jeu
social des actions humaines.
Dans quels contextes académique, social et économique le
« parti pris des choses » fédère-t-il actuellement les sciences
sociales ? Qu’y a-t-il de profitable à se placer sur le plan des
choses ? Quelles perspectives le thème offre-t-il pour nourrir
le dialogue entre les différentes traditions des sciences
humaines ? Comment conditionne-t-il enfin la représentation
des choses hors du monde universitaire ?
Afin d’apporter des éclairages différenciés à ces questions
décisives, cette journée donne la parole à sept chercheurs -
philosophes, historiens et anthropologues - qui ont pris le
parti des choses.

(1719: art at the lottery. Dispersed coins and art objects from the Pedroni collection in Modena).
La collezione privata di Andrea e Pietro Giovanni Pedroni di Modena era costituita, oltre
che da numerose emissioni della zecca di Roma, da naturalia nonché da diverse opere d’arte, quali statuette antiche, dipinti di scuola fiamminga e alcune tele attribuite alla mano del Correggio. Alla morte del proprietario, sopraggiunta prematuramente nel 1718, le monete, così come molti altri pezzi della collezione, furono messe in palio in un lotto al fine di ricavare la somma di 600 ducatoni d’argento in favore dei figli del Pedroni, allora ancora minorenni. L’autrice presenta in dettaglio l’inventario dei beni trovati nel palazzo Pedroni. Tale documento permette di far luce sul fenomeno affascinante del collezionismo privato. In particolare viene posto l’accento sulle similitudini con la galleria degli Estensi relative ad alcune tipologie di oggetti collezionati. Quanto alla parte numismatica questa era composta da oltre 400 monete romane imperiali, diverse delle quali tuttora considerate rarità e databili tra l’epoca di Augusto (27 a.C.-14 d.C.) e il regno di Gallieno (260-268 d.C.). La documentazione disponibile non permette di ricostruire la storia di tali emissioni dopo lo smembramento della collezione Pedroni. Le precise descrizioni delle singole monete rendono tuttavia possibile l’identificazione di almeno 19 tipi tutti prodotti dalla zecca di Roma.

Christoph Semler’s model of the Temple of Solomon offered its eighteenth-century viewers a three-dimensional treasure-trove of exegetical opportunities. During live demonstrations, they were invited to explore the links between biblical events and histories through visualization of their spatial and temporal relations. This talk will discuss the virtual reconstruction of the lost model from various perspectives. It will address the textual and visual sources, such as the Biblical accounts from the Books of Kings and Chronicles, Semler’s manual (1718), and the work of Johannes Lundius on which it is largely based. What are the possibilities and limitations of such a reconstruction of a reconstruction, and what might it tell us about eighteenth-century epistemological procedures? And how can the digital technology of Augmented Reality potentially engage a twenty-first century audience with religious ideas?

Рассматривается история собирания коллекций по традиционной культуре народов Тихоокеанского регио- на в Кунсткамере Академии наук во второй половине XVIII в. Показан вклад мореходов и промысловиков, как и государственных экспедиций и дипломатических миссий, в сбор сведений и предметов для музея Кунсткамеры. The article is focused on the history of collections on traditional culture of peoples of the Pacific Region in the Kunstkamera of the Academy of Sciences in the second half of the 18th century. Contribution of sailors and hunters in data and items collection for the Kunstkamera as well as the role of state expeditions and diplomatic missions are described.

Come l’oceano nella sua immensità raccoglie indistintamente le acque dei grandi fiumi e dei ruscelli, così la Museographia neickeliana nasce con l’idea di abbracciare senza nulla tralasciare la totalità di un tema, elaborando, paradossalmente prima della nascita del museo moderno, quelli che potremmo chiamare i rudimentali fondamenti epistemologici della sua disciplina, che da quest’opera erediterà formule e nome. Eppure la genesi non fu senza difetti e il successo sperato dall’autore compromesso probabilmente anche dalla nascita, di lì a poco, del museo come istituzione pubblica, dove le retoriche allestitive saranno chiamate ad esprimere volontà e strategie più complesse, non più riferibili ad un progetto esclusivamente individuale.
Data alle stampe nel 1727 da Michael Hubert editore a Lipsia e Breslavia, Museographia nasce ad Amburgo, città di porto e di mercanti, l’autore, Caspar Friederich Neickel, anzi Einckel (il vero nome si manifesta, infatti, leggendo al contrario la prima sillaba) appartiene alla categoria e la redige in forma di guida, con l’intenzione di descrivere qualità e caratteristiche di un ormai affollatissimo universo di luoghi, le Kunst- und Wunderkammern e, nello spirito del tempo, conferirgli anche un certo ordine. Neickel non è uno studioso, né un collezionista e neppure un grande viaggiatore, come lo furono altri amateurs, che si dilettavano di visitare le città per fare esperienza diretta delle collezioni più note; è solo, si può dire, un appassionato lettore e acuto osservatore di quella moda del collezionare meraviglie diffusa in tutta l'Europa del suo tempo.

Le ricerche negli archivi romani hanno consentito di fissare con certezza l'anno di morte dell'artista e di ricostruire alcune vicende biografiche ancora poco note. In appendice è pubblicato l'ìnventario della collezione di rarità dell'artista.

The article focuses on the ways in which the quotidian is represented in museum exhibitions. Topics dealing with perfumes and cosmetics, here serving as an example, usually stay on the margins of contemporary Russian historical narrative, and therefore lack interpretive frameworks and vocabularies. Museum exhibitions which show perfumes and cosmetics reproduce a fixed set of contexts examined in this article: "treasury" (representation built around high market value and aesthetic qualities of the package), "history of industries" (focusing on individual entrepreneurs and the development of their businesses), or "backstage" (recreation of an actor's dressing room). Besides, the ways of exhibiting everyday objects from the Soviet period are still heavily charged with ideological connotations.