Collecting

Today, the museum is long established as an institution in its own right.  In the late medieval and early modern periods, collections began to be assembled in a variety of different contexts: ecclesiastical, courtly, academic, and otherwise.  Some of the most congenial of these contexts were medical: two of these illustrated here -- the apothecary shop and the anatomy theatre -- are major topics in their own right, abundantly provided with visual documentation, and prime candidates for expansive development within The Medicine Cabinet. The third example illustrates how medical considerations also shaped princely collecting at the very highest level.