Art History 280 - COLQ:COLLECTING & DISPLAY

Topics Course What motivated individuals and corporate bodies to collect and display varieties of objects, works of art among them, and how did those paired activities forge social identities, generate fascination, and productively frame knowledge of the world? Among the topics considered are the indissoluble Plinian link between art and nature on the one hand, and cabinets of curiosities (Kunst- und Wunderkammern) on the other; the art market; the design of purpose-built galleries, museums, and libraries; the illustrated recording or publication of renowned collections ("paper museums"); the nineteenth-century foundation (or reconstitution) of national and municipal art collections. Recommended background: one course in European art, 1400-1800. Group II