Art, Science, and Alchemy: Royal Collecting in the European Curiosity Cabinet

The Bruce Museum is extremely fortunate to have Dr. Inge Reist presenting the online lecture Art, Science, and Alchemy: Royal Collecting in the European Curiosity Cabinet.
Dr. Reist is the Director Emerita of the Center for the History of Collecting, which she established at The Frick Collection and Frick Art Reference Library in 2007. Prior to that, she was the Frick’s Chief of Research Collections and Programs and also served as their Head of the Photo Archive. In 2013, she was the founding president of PHAROS: An International Consortium of Photo Archives.
Holding a Ph.D. in Art History with a specialty in Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, Reist has taught at various schools including Columbia University, Rutgers University, and Hunter College. She has published widely in her field, including in major publications such as The Art Bulletin, Gazette des Beaux Arts, and the Blackwell Companion to Renaissance and Baroque Art. Since retiring from the Frick in 2018, after thirty-seven years at that institution, she remains active in the field. Over the course of the past two years, Dr. Reist has delivered papers at institutions such as the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon, the Frick Collection, and, now, the Bruce Museum.
Dr. Inge Reist’s presentation highlights exceptional examples of the exotica - crocodiles, shells, and amber- and spectacular scientific instruments, alchemical paraphernalia, and works of art that so captivated the princes of Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. She begins with a four minute introduction to the cabinet of curiosities that sets out their historical and philosophical context. The remainder of the talk then explores dozens of dazzling images that show the full range of objects that filled European royal cabinets.