Kunstkammer

This superb, lavishly illustrated; tome by Jeffrey Chipps-Smith has; chapters on the Munich cabinet of the Wittelsbachs; Schloss Ambras of Archduke Ferdinand; the Dresden cabinet of the Alberine Wettins; the cabinet of Rudolf II in Prague; and the Kunstkammen in Graz, Stuttgart and Kassel . . . Photographs of astonishing objects of vertu punctuate the pages – a sensual treat. -- Paul Sieveking * Fortean Times *
Jeffrey Smith's new book provides an accessible introduction to one of the most fascinating phenomena in early modern Europe, the Kunstkammer. Based on contemporary inventories and the interpretive literature (mainly) in German, his clearly written text surveys the most important collections of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries and situates them in context. * Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann, Frederick Marquand Professor of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University *
Kunstkammern, also known as “cabinets of curiosity”, grew out of the early modern era’s first steps into a globalist reach. This book lucidly but learnedly examines this phenomenon for both scholars and generalists, as a primer that moves from the wider phenomenon to remarkable individual sixteenth-century German princely collections. The great amassed riches within this book will amply satisfy contemporary curiosity. * Larry Silver, James and Nan Wagner Farquhar Professor Emeritus of History of Art, University of Pennsylvania *
Jeffrey Chipps Smith presents a brilliant analysis of an important development within sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe: the creation of the Kunstkammer. By placing rare and precious artefacts in princely collections, the meaning of such objects changed dramatically. A set of seven historic collections located in Munich, Innsbruck, Dresden, Prague, Graz, Stuttgart and Kassel serve as case studies. Each collector had different parameters, depending on a variety of individual determinants: status, interests, availability, belief and financial means. This monograph offers a superb introduction into the complex world of collecting. * Dagmar Eichberger, Professor Emerita, Department of European Art History, University of Heidelberg *