Museums and Cabinets of Curiosities
A museum is an institution that houses and protects artifacts that possess scientific, artistic, or historical importance. Museums are generally open to the public through exhibitions that may be permanent or temporary. Many large and famous museums are located in cities throughout the world, with smaller museums located in smaller cities and towns.
Museums have a long history among advanced civilizations: a famous example was the Musaeum of Alexandria, which was constructed in Ptolemaic Egypt. In the western world, museums began as private artifact collections amassed by very wealthy individuals, families, and institutions. As technology improves, the digitization of information and the capacity for digital information storage is causing museum exhibitions to branch out into high-resolution virtual exhibitions that can be accessed online.
A precursor of the modern museum collection was the cabinet of curiosities or Wunderkammer (wonder room), which was a private collection of objects assembled by wealthy collectors. The cabinet of curiosities first made its appearance in the 16th century and persisted into the 19th century. The cabinet of curiosities brought together bizarre objects that often defied contemporary classification. Objects that were collected include physical fragments of natural history, archeological artifacts, cabinet paintings, and antiquities.
Ferdinand II, Archduke of Austria, had a cabinet of curiosities which placed special emphasis on paintings of people with deformities. This collection can still be seen in the Chamber of Art and Curiosities at Ambras Castle, Austria. Unusual objects such as shells, stuffed mammals, antique maps, triple picture frames and objects from Antiquity were also collected and stored in various cabinets of curiosities.
Museums as public bastions of culture did not come into existence until the Age of Enlightenment. The Vatican in Rome opened the first two public museums: the Capitoline Museum and the Vatican Museum. Museums devoted to collecting and exhibiting art has become an essential institution in major cities. Art museums store and protect paintings, illustrations, sculptures, drawings, metalwork, furniture, sister picture frames, and new media art.
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, which opened on 24th May 1683, was the world’s first university art museum. It was built to house the cabinet of curiosities of the politician Elias Ashmole. Ashmole was an antiquary who collected curiosities such as triple picture frames, curious objets d’art, and geological fragments.
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