Renaissance Kunst- and Wunderkammern: the First Museums

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In the sixteenth century, wealthy merchants and powerful princes in Europe began assembling vast collections that aspired to contain all possible knowledge of all possible things. From these remarkably diverse collections called Kunst- and Wunderkammern (German), studioli (Italian), and curiosity cabinets (English)arose our modern museums of art, science, history and technology, as well as modern research collections in universities. This course explores these fascinating collections, the purposes that they served and the circumstances in which they were created.