Universal orders in collections of 16th and 17th century Italy

Abstract

Anne Aurasmaa’s article will discuss beauty, harmony and order as expressions of a belief in a living universe and in the connection between the material and the spiritual. This is approached through an examination of 16th and 17th century Italian collections, with help of Marsilio Ficino’s Book of Life. According to Aurasmaa’s interpretation, the sensuous pleasure derived from the study of objects was believed to be a way to relate to, and be in contact with the surrounding world and the heavenly spheres. The symmetrical arrangements of the collections, on the other hand, were visualizations of a belief in the harmonious nature of the ideal universe. The article discusses how principles of universality were represented, how the collecting and organization of things were spiritualized, and, as a consequence, how collecting practices came to be approved by society.