CABINETS OF CURIOSITIES OR WUNDERKAMMERS
Cabinets of Curiosities and Wunderkammers were born in the 15th Century.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, gentlemen gained a higher social status in the world of elites by becoming a naturalist collector of specimens and curious objects in their Victorian Museum at Home.
Many of the items in these early collections were new discoveries, rarities, and oddities, often displayed in so-called “Cabinets of Curiosities”. Today’s glass display cases called “curio cabinets” got both their form and their name from the historic Cabinets of Curiosity.
Victorians – natural storytellers
The Victorians were “natural” storytellers and their Cabinets of Curiosities were supposed to be representations of knowledge as well as theatre and works of art.
Cabinets of Curiosities were all the rage during the Victorian era for both learning and entertainment purposes, but Cabinets of Curiosities were limited to those who could afford to create and maintain them.
Victorian displays of the diorama – often set up like miniature scenes – allowed people to see objects but only those who were in the upper echelons of society usually had the benefit of seeing them, while those at the lower levels of the socio-economic scale rarely had the opportunity to view them since mostly they were in private homes, clubs, and collections – far beyond the eyes of the ordinary person.
As many of the early cabinet collectors—naturalists and explorers, architects and apothecaries—passed away, their collections were either donated to educational institutions, newly-formed museums of the natural histories and libraries, or they were sold to the new breed of businessmen looking to start a commercial enterprise. This worked by charging admission or ticket fees so eventually ordinary people had the opportunity to see these wonders of the world.
Further reading on Cabinets of Curiosities: Patrick Mauries
15th century Cabinets of Curiosities or Wunderkammers
From the 15th century Cabinets of curiosities or Wunderkammers or Wonder-Rooms were the early concept of Museums. Their rare and beautiful objects were obsessively collected by the privileged and upper classes.
Cabinets of Curiosities held the sum of Human Knowledge
These Cabinets of Curiosities or Wunderkammers included artificialia and naturalia, and all the collecting wonders of the world.
These marvels and rare objects were supposed to delight and surprise, and they set out to mirror and represent the world in its entirety.
By the 16th century Campanella, the philosopher and theologian, described and presented the concept of these Cabinets of Curiosities or Wunderkammers or Wonder-Rooms as being divided into categories that represented the sum of the whole of human knowledge sub divided into circles.
THE SIX CIRCLES OF CAMPANELLA, THE 16TH CENTURY PHILOSOPHER
The 1st Circle
Inside the first circle are all the mathematical figures.
On the outside of the building is a map of the whole world with a table for every country, describing its rituals, customs and laws and with our alphabet displayed above theirs.
The 2nd and 3rd Circles
Within the second circle are all the precious and non-precious stones and minerals and metals, real and painted.
Outside this circle are the wines, oils and various liquor, with their properties, origin and qualities described; also vessels filled with different liquids, from 100-300 years old, which can cure almost all diseases.
Inside the third circle are illustrations of all the various types of herbs and trees in the world, with their properties described together with their similarities with the celestial bodies, metals and the human body, as well as their medicinal use.
On the outside of this circle are the depictions of all kind of fish, rivers, lakes and seas, combined with their characteristics and mode of existence.
The 4th, 5th & 6th Circles
Inside the fourth circle are illustrations of all the various types of birds with their distinctive traits, sizes and habits and amongst them the phoenix is very much true to life”.
Campanella’s account continues referring to examples of all living species until it reaches the sixth and final circle, where are to be found “all the mechanical arts, together with a catalogue of the various equipment and the different manners in which each is used around the world”.
Madness and obsession drove collection of objects
There was a madness of obsession of collecting, particularly by Europe’s rulers, and the early European museums were shaped by a compulsion for voracious and encylopaedic knowledge.
This all-encompassing and omnivorous model of the “universal museum” found its highest expression in the cabinet of curiosities collections of the European royal families. At the cabinet of curiosities of Ambras Castle near Innsbruck the collection was every bit as chilling as it was fascinating.
Awakening curiosity and challenging pre-conceived ideas
The kind of imagination which, in 1602, inspired Campanella’s prose, is the same impetus that generated the culture of the cabinet of curiosities, a phenomenon that spread throughout Italy at this time as well as though the rest of Europe, and where, at the Uffizi Gallery, was created a Cabinet of Curiosities and a place of wonders. The original layout of this gallery contained masterpieces by Caravaggio including The Head of Medusa in rotella form, and it is still there today.
Visitors were greeted by Paul Reichel’s masterpiece “Death”, and once inside the castle the collection was organised into categories – naturalia, artificialia, and mirabilia. The objective was to awaken curiosity and challenge pre conceived ideas. There were images of dwarfs, giants, monsters, human beings entirely covered in hair alongside crocodiles climbing walls and rulers and military leaders.
18th and 19th Century Curiosity Cabinets gave birth to the public museums.
The original 15th century Cabinets of Curiosities or Wunderkammer continued to develop, driven by an obsession for collecting naturalia and scientific discovery.
By the 19th century it was the Curiosity Cabinets of gentlemen and royalty with their abundance of collected objects that laid the foundations of the natural history museums as we know them today.
The things displayed in these 19th century cabinets curated by wealthy Victorian Gentlemen Collectors included taxidermy animals – often souvenirs of their expeditions to exotic places.
This was a way for the Gentlemen Collectors to visibly take part in the study of Zoology and Natural History, and of course, to openly display wealth and massage the ego.
This article is part of the Before the Glass section. Explore more research here →
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