Symmetry, ornament and lifelike animals: Images in naturalia collection books from the early eighteenth-century Dutch Republic

Collecting was a popular elite pastime in much of early modern Europe. Collections could include a wide range of objects, which were studied and displayed at home, and sometimes described and visualised in books. In the Dutch Republic around the turn of the eighteenth century, collections of natural objects were especially popular. The books that describe and show these collections are important sources for understanding how nature was appreciated and studied in the 18th-century Dutch Republic. However, from a modern perspective, the detailed images of often symmetrically arranged objects in these books are hard to understand as either 'art' or 'science'. This thesis explains how conventions from both natural history and applied arts, as well as certain religious ideas influenced these images. Using three case studies, D'Amboinsche rariteitkamer (1705) by Georg Rumphius, Het tweede deel van het wondertooneel der natuur (1715) by Levinus Vincent, and the Thesaurus (four volumes, 1734...Show moreCollecting was a popular elite pastime in much of early modern Europe. Collections could include a wide range of objects, which were studied and displayed at home, and sometimes described and visualised in books. In the Dutch Republic around the turn of the eighteenth century, collections of natural objects were especially popular. The books that describe and show these collections are important sources for understanding how nature was appreciated and studied in the 18th-century Dutch Republic. However, from a modern perspective, the detailed images of often symmetrically arranged objects in these books are hard to understand as either 'art' or 'science'. This thesis explains how conventions from both natural history and applied arts, as well as certain religious ideas influenced these images. Using three case studies, D'Amboinsche rariteitkamer (1705) by Georg Rumphius, Het tweede deel van het wondertooneel der natuur (1715) by Levinus Vincent, and the Thesaurus (four volumes, 1734–1765) by Albertus Seba, the thesis shows that these conventions and ideas were used flexibly by different authors-collectors to suit their own purposes and approach to nature.Show less

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Symmetry, ornament and lifelike animals: Images in naturalia collection books from the early eighteenth-century Dutch Republic