Dr Petra Kayser – All the world in a Wunderkammer

The Renaissance Wunderkammer was a collection of encyclopaedic scope: its shelves and cabinets were filled with fossils, stuffed animals, precious artefacts, exotic marvels, scientific instruments, sculptures, books, paintings, costumes, tools, musical instruments and automata. Faced with these extraordinary objects, the visitor to a Wunderkammer became an eyewitness to the wonders of the world.

Almost five hundred years later, the diversity of the exhibits and their ‘playful’ arrangement still inspire curiosity. But what did these objects represent, and were they in any way coherent?

This lecture presents the Wunderkammer as an early modern phenomenon that reflected the consciousness of a new age. At the very heart of the collection was a desire to understand the world, to grasp its mysteries and imagine the creative possibilities. Indeed, the Wunderkammer was a showcase of creativity, made manifest in nature’s intricate formations, and in man-made artefacts that equaled, and even exceeded, nature’s ingenuity.

Dr Petra Kayser is curator of Prints and Drawings at the National Gallery of Victoria. She has curated exhibitions on subjects such as Renaissance images of Apocalypse and war, satirical prints, Australian colonial art and German Modernism. Research interests include Renaissance print culture, the early modern history of art and science, and German art and culture of the 1920s–30s. Her PhD Marvellous Artistry (2004) examined the relationship between nature and art in sixteenth-century Wunderkammer collections, and she has published numerous essays, including the award-winning article, The intellectual and the artisan: Wenzel Jamnitzer and Bernard Palissy Uncover the Secrets of Nature.

Date and Times

Location

School of Art lecture theatre, 105 Childers Street, 2601 Acton,