Link to the recording of the presentation here

Link to  very short recording on the objectification of humans with physical differences as objects for collection HERE

LINK TO RECORDING OF CLASS HERE

Age of Exploration and Discovery: 15th- 17th centuries

The influence of Christianity and the power of the church cannot be ignored in a discussion about the evolution of science during the Renaissance in Europe. There were physical, financial, and social risks that came with contradicting the church.

The Crusades introduced Europe to the wealth and knowledge of Asia, including Muslim knowledge (especially related to medicine) and Arabic translations of ancient Greek and Roman texts. Availability of Asian goods created a demand for more spices and luxuries and initiated competition among the Europeans for control of trade routes.

Europeans were driven by curiosity, missionary zeal, and quest for wealth and access to resources. Advancements in nautical maps, ship design, and navigational tools made exploration easier. They needed to find new trade routes that would give them direct access to continue trading with Asia, as shipping in the Indian Ocean was under Arab control.

The Portuguese explored the western coast of Africa, the Spanish landed in the Americas, called the “New World,” at the time, and thousands of unknown species of flora and fauna were brought back to the Europeans. By the early 17th century, the Dutch would enter the competition for access to all of this.

Anonymous cartographer, “Cantino planisphere” (1502) illustrating the Portuguese forts and colonies in the Atlantic

Etching of Ole Worm’s cabinet, Ole Worm (1588-1654)

Collecting and sorting natural objects into categories was a necessary step in understanding the relationships between living things and the process provided the foundation for specialized fields of science. 

The printing press with movable type facilitated the spread of information and sparked a renewed interest in first-hand observation. This invention coincided with the influx and goods from afar and inspired a collecting frenzy among royalty, nobility, and the rising merchant class. 

At the beginning of the 16th century, influenced by humanist scholarship, collections of the kind that would be called Kunstkammern, began to appear in the courts of Italian princes. These collections quickly grew in popularity.

Those with wealth and access gathered as many natural and man-made objects as possible, in hopes of creating a microcosm that would help them find the order and logic behind divine creation. The collections, called Cabinets of Curiosity or Wunderkamer, celebrated God’s work and the beauty and diversity of the world. They were also supposed to reflect the curiosity, intellect, wealth, and power of the collector.

By the 17th century, the purpose of the collections was not to reflect the whole cosmos, but to provide means of gathering data. Collectors  focused on ordering, comparing, and describing specimens to understand the systems of nature.

Apothecaries, aka druggists, often kept cabinets intended as tools for research. Their collections frequently included Herbaria, books made of soft, absorbent paper into which dried plants would be pressed or glued. Creating these books in the 16th and 17th century was a popular pastime and was considered an important part of education.

For centuries, medical professionals learned more through vocational training than academic study. There were a number of herbals and manuals on the topic, but empirical knowledge mostly was acquired through hands-on practice and passed down orally. Doctors improved their skills through apprenticeships and journeyman training. Working in different locations exposed them to new ideas and methods.

 From Ferrante Imperato’s Dell’Historia naturale, pub. 1599: left: frontispiece, right: illustration

The collections quickly outgrew their cabinets and often filled several rooms and could also include botanical gardens, aviaries, and menageries in addition to the objects. Paintings and prints were used to commemorate a collection or to stand in for objects that were hard to acquire. Until the 17th century, illustrations were often based on descriptions included in travel accounts. Naturalists often gave detailed questionnaires to ship's captains to gather detailed information about unfamiliar flora and fauna. Towards the end of the 17th century, naturalists and illustrators began to travel and document distant lands. Their sketches and descriptions were often published as travel books/natural history accounts of the region visited.

Because they were far less expensive than the actual object, prints were available to a wider audience. They were often sold by subscription, meaning that a customer would pay for a series of prints in advance so that the artist would not have to cover printing expense out of his own pocket. Many artists, including Albrecht Durer, made a decent supplemental income through print sales. Print collectors would often take loose prints to a bookbinder to have a unique book made. It was also common for owners of immense cabinets to commission artists to illustrate a catalog of their collections or botanical gardens. Usually the owner’s name was included in the title and artists rarely received credit. 

One of the earliest examples of these catalogs is called Dell’Historia naturale, and was organized by an apothecary from Naples named Ferrante Imperato. His 28 volume catalog imitated the tradition established by Pliny the Elder. Nine of the volumes were dedicated to alchemy, two covered living species, and the remainder described gems, minerals, and stones. Imperato included commentary on other author’s ideas as well as his own observations and theories.

Cabinet from the workshop of Melchior Baumgartner;silversmithing by Jeremias Sibenburger, c. 1659

In addition to all manner of natural objects, the cabinets often included antiquities; jewels and handicrafts; automata; scientific instruments, like astrolabes, compasses and clocks; and tools, weapons, coins, and religious relics from other cultures. 

By the mid-15th century, treatises on the proper organization of such collections appeared. The first guide was written by Flemish doctor Samuel van Quiccheberg, who served as the administrator of the ducal colection in Munich. His system divided the respectable collection into five departments. The first focused on genealogy; the second to handicrafts from Antiquity to the present; the third to natural specimens; the fourth to tools and cultural objects; the fifth to paintings and prints.

According to a treatise on how to form a proper collection written by (garden designer and secretary to King Louis XV) Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville in 1587, one should include: sculptures and paintings; "curious items from home or abroad"; and "antlers, horns, claws, feathers and other things belonging to strange and curious animals.” 

Anomalies, such as conjoined animals, were an important part of these collections and were thought to be omens. Unfortunately, even human beings were sometimes treated as objects, often seen as pathologies rather than individuals. Amassing the collections had a human cost, too. Europeans in search of new plant and animal species in Africa and the Americas often depended on the knowledge of local enslaved people and had them carry out the sometimes dangerous or unpleasant task of acquiring specimens. And many of the dealers of natural and man-made objects were involved in the slave trade.

Wunderkamer were spaces where naturalists gathered to seek connections between living things, to study, and to discuss theories. Among royalty and nobility, they also served as elite meeting places where diplomatic agreements could be made.

*Note: As Latin was the language of science, naturalists often Latinized their names. For example, Vincent Levin became Levinus vincent.

garden designs from "The Theory and Practice of Gardening," by Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville, secretary to King Louis XV

Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, Return to Amsterdam of the 2nd expedition to the East Indies,  1599

The painting by Vroom commemorates the successful mission of a Dutch fleet to acquire spices. The eight ships in the fleet returned with one million pounds of pepper and cloves, as well as half a ship of nutmeg, mace, and cinnamon.

The Spice Map, by Petrus Plancius, 1617

Two individuals were especially crucial to the formation of the Dutch East India Company and the bounty that followed.

Cartographer Petrus Plancius fled religious persecution under the Spanish occupation of Belgium and went to Amsterdam, where he became interested in navigation and cartography. He gained covert access to navigational charts brought from Portugal and used these to create nautical maps of the Philippines and Spice Islands. Despite its errors and incomplete details, his map was very helpful to Dutch sailors and he went on to create dozens of maps for the Dutch East India Co.

The map was published to promote the commercial potential of Dutch voyages to the Spice Islands and was included in the book by Jan Huygen von Linschoten.

Map of the Indian Ocean from Jan Huygen Van Linschoten’s Itinerario , published in 1596

Jan Huyghen van Linschoten, (b. 1563- d. 1611) was born to a well off Dutch family who owned an inn. It may have been his exposure to foreign travelers that gave him the desire for adventure. He made his way to Lisbon, where he met the archbishop of Goa- a city and region of India that had been seized by the Portuguese in 1510 and that remained under their control until the late 20th century. The Portuguese used Goa as a base of trade and attempted to convert locals to Christianity.

Linschoten relocated to Goa with the archbishop and served as his bookkeeper. While there, he documented local customs and culture, thus sharing his interest in the non-Christian cultures of the Indian Ocean with European readers.

He also collected information on the state of affairs in the so-called “Portuguese State of India,” revealing weaknesses in their grip on power. Much of the information he gathered is thought to have come from chatting with unsuspecting sailors at the docks. He gathered detailed information for merchants on where particular spices could be obtained and at what cost. There was a huge demand for cinnamon, pepper, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, clove, star anise, and turmeric, as well as Arab and Javanese coffee, Chinese tea and porcelain, and Indian textiles.

Most significantly, he secretly copied important navigational maps and details on landmarks and underwater hazards from Spanish and Portuguese sources, info that was highly coveted by European rivals. The secrets he uncovered helped the Dutch break of the Portuguese monopoly of the spice trade and led to the formation of the Dutch East India Company, which was the largest commercial enterprise of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Upon his return to Holland, his writings were published with the title “Itinerary, Journey, or Sea Voyage to the East of Portuguese Indies,” in 1596. The maps published in the books did not contain details that would be useful to competitors.

images from Linschoten's Itinerario

The publisher, Cornelis Claesz, included maps by some of the best map makers of the era, including copies of maps by Petrus Plancius and originals by  Arnoldus and Henricus van Langren. 

His book also included illustrations of local people and some flora and fauna based on Linschoten’s drawings as copied and engraved by Johannes and Baptista van Doetecum.

Museo Cartaceo by Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657) 

The largest collection of images was created by Roman brothers Cassiano and Carlo Anonio dal Pozzo. Their catalog, called the Museu Cartacao (Museum on Paper) aspired to compile all available human knowledge in visual form and  included between 7,000-10,000 watercolors, drawings, and prints. It documented specimens of botany, geology, ornithology, and zoology; images of costumes, religious ceremonies, architecture, antiquities, maps, portraits, and more.

The shackles pictured above were said to have belonged to an Early Christian martyr. We also see here a “fingered lemon” from Asia, and an apple with a human face, which most likely was an actual specimen with somewhat human-like features exaggerated by the artist.

The illustrations are arranged by subject. The Cassianos tried to identify each item, describe the circumstances surrounding the making of the drawing, and provide references to documentation. The brothers created some of the drawings and purchased prints, which were widely available. The catalog demonstrates the evolution of scientific inquiry in 17th century Europe.

Rhino woodcut by Albrecht Durer, 1515

Durer’s woodcut of a rhino is an emblem of the early 16th century, and a departure from his other depictions of nature, as he was usually committed to strict observation and accurate representation. 

He never saw the rhino himself. His engraving is based on descriptions from multiple sources- a contemporary who sent rough and amateur sketches and a description to Durer; an excerpt written by Pliny the Elder that described a mammal with the “feet of an elephant and tail of a boar,” and a description of a different species from Africa written by the ancient Roman writer Martial, that included a second horn.

Durer’s print confirmed what Europeans had read in ancient descriptions, and so accepted his image as realistic, even though it conflicted with some contemporary accounts. It also fed their appetites for images of exotic animals, and he sold around 5,000 prints. It served as the model for rhino illustrations in natural history encyclopedias for another 200 years. It inspired imitations in relief sculptures, tapestries, and paintings, and became a popular symbol for strength and fortitude.

The image also marks the transition from reliance upon descriptions of the ancients, to first-hand observation and combines the two.

Rudolph II (1552-1612)

Rudolph II held many royal positions in the Habsburg dynasty, including service as the Holy Roman Emperor between 1576-1612, a position that he took at the age of 23. He was far more interested in nature, art, alchemy, and astrology than he was in governing. Many believe he is responsible for initiating the scientific revolution of the era because of his extraordinary patronage.

His rise to power coincided with the intensifying conflict between the northern Protestants and southern Catholics in Europe and he chose to remain neutral, hiring artists from all regions and housing them in elaborate and well-equipped studios within the palace complex. 

He was fascinated with alchemy and astrology and financed the research of astronomers Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler and spent a fortune on improving their instruments. His immense cabinet and his support of the arts and sciences made his palace the center of learning. Many credit him with initiating the scientific revolution of the era because of his extraordinary patronage.

He had the largest collection of “naturalia,” “artificialia” (man-made goods), and “scientifica” (tools) in all of Europe in his lifetime.

He had the largest collection of “naturalia,” “artificialia” (man-made goods), and “scientifica” (tools) in all of Europe in his lifetime. The collection represented more than a quest to understand nature, it also reflected the beauty and diversity of the world and of human capabilities. He commissioned around 3,000 paintings, scores of decorative objects, tools, musical instruments, clocks, waterworks, and automata, all made by the best craftsmen in Europe.

In addition to the more common items, his collection included fish, mummies, wild cats, wolves, bears, and other animals. A lion and tiger roamed the castle freely. Account books record the sums paid to survivors of the attacks and to the victims’ families. He built parks with artificial lakes, islands, and bridges in Prague. He stocked the lakes with fish and populated the terrain with rare species of elk and aurochs. 

He also had a heated aviary with an extraordinary collection of exotic birds and greenhouses dedicated to growing oranges and figs. Gardens on the palace grounds included medicinal herbs, mazes, space for alchemical experiments, and phrases spelled out in plants and flowers.

His collection was open to visiting dignitaries and functioned as the space where negotiations were held. An invitation to view the cabinet was a sign of political favor. His court painters had access to all of it and were able to paint rare specimens, both living and dead, from observation. We’ll look at the work of several of the artists whose work he collected or commissioned, including Arcimboldo, Durer, Breughel, Joris Hoefnagel, and Roelandt Savery .

His collection was raided during the 30 Years War and what remained of it has been sold off.

Fire and Water from the Four Elements series by Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1566

Arcimboldo (1527- 1593) was a court painter to several of the Habsbourg dynasty, but is most closely associated with Rudolf II. In addition to painting, he was responsible for expanding Rudolf’s collection. Arcimboldo was also a skilled inventor and engineer and made musical instruments. He also organized elaborate court festivals and designed the sets and costumes they required. 

These extravagant events would last for days and included spectacles like live elephants; horses disguised as dragons, bulls, or other creatures; a carriage pulled by peacocks; the royal family costumed as Greek gods; or elaborate sets and landscapes constructed to hold jousting tournaments. They also included elaborate food sculptures that imitated his paintings. The themes of these events were usually mythological or astrological and were often intended to assert the majesty and power of the House of Habsburgs over their subjects.

Many of Arcimboldo’s paintings were accompanied by a poem or description by the writer Giovanni Fonteo, which clarifies the painter’s intentions.

According to Fonteo, The Elements series represented Maximillian (Rudolph’s father) as lord and master of the elements and seasons, as his benevolent rule allowed them to live in peace and harmony. 

 The painting of Rudolf as Vertumnus was inspired by a Latin poem by Propertius who described Vertumnus as a “god of permanence through change,” and Arcimboldo illustrates this concept with fruits and flowers of the four seasons used as metaphor for the continuous rule of the Habsburgs.

Air and Earth from the Four Elements series, Arcimboldo, 1566

Four Elements

Paintings commissioned by royalty were inclined to symbolize the power, glory, and harmony of the dynasty or empire, as demonstrated in this series, which includes references to the heraldic symbols of the Austro-Hungarian empire, like the lion, peacock, and eagle. 

Arcimboldo’s composite portraits were sometimes dismissed by his contemporaries as merely clever, but later viewers saw them as an investigation into connections between the macro and microcosms of nature. They reflect Aristotle’s theory of the four elements (earth, air, fire, water) as the basis of all life forms and the Greek belief that the earth and everything it contained was created by a divine combination of these elements. 

For example:

summer is a combination of hot and dry, like fire; 

winter= cold and wet,  like water 

Spring= hot and wet, like air

Autumn= cold and dry, like earth.

Joris Hoefnagel, illustrations 

Joris Hoefnagel (1542- 1601)

Hoefnagel was the extraordinary illuminator who we discussed in the botany section because of his influence on Dutch still life and botanical painters. 

He was born into a wealthy merchant family in Antwerp during the period of social, political, and religious upheaval following the Reformation movement in northern Europe and preceding the founding of the Dutch republic.

He was a self-taught painter who also wrote poetry in Latin, spoke several languages fluently, and played a number of instruments. He worked in multiple genres, including miniatures, landscapes, mythology and allegory, and was especially renowned for his emblems, grotesques, and topographical drawings. We will discuss him again in the entomology section.

He was hired as a court artist to Albert V, duke of Bavaria in 1577, but was fired twenty years later for refusing to sign a pledge of loyalty to the Catholic church. While employed by Albert, he managed to complete a four volume book of miniatures based on the four elements.

Hoefnagel is renowned for the illuminations he painted for The Model Book of Calligraphy by master George Bocksay. The book was commissioned by Rudolf's father, Emperor Maximillian the II, with illustrations commissioned by Rudolf fifteen years after Bocksay's death.

Rudolf II became familiar with his work, hired him as a court painter, and provided refuge from religious persecution. The opportunity also gave Hoefnagel the opportunity to paint exotic specimens from observation.

SENSITIVE MATERIAL WARNING regarding inhumane views of dwarfism and other pathologies. To pass over this portion, skip the green print and begin reading again at still life painting with skull picture below

Joris Hoefnagel, Animalia Rationalia et Insecta (Ignis) - Plate I, from the Elementa Depicta, picturing Petrus Gonsalvus.

Unfortunately, natural philosophers of the era rarely considered the humanity of people with unusual physical conditions. When included in natural history books, they were often grouped with mythological beings or under the heading of “monsters,” a word derived from the Latin monstrum, meaning divine omen. This category also included (at times) pregnant women.

The image above is a portrait of Petrus Gonsalvus, who had a condition called hypertrichosis, which causes excessive hair growth all over the body. He and his children served in various courts in the Netherlands and Italy. Though they lived as nobility, they were  generally viewed by their contemporaries as objects of curiosity and not fully human.

Las Meninas, by Diego Velazquez, 1565

The desire to find unique examples of creation had terrible consequences for some people. Humans with rare conditions, particularly people with dwarfism, were often seen as pathologies, not individuals, and kept as part of a collection of the royal courts. They were bought, sold, and traded among royal families throughout Europe, especially in Italy and Spain. They were used as pawns in the competition of royal families engaged in demonstrating power and superiority.

They played ceremonial roles in courts, often positioned beside the king to enhance his height and power. They were also frequently put in charge of caring for the animals of the court.

People with dwarfism were considered demonstrations of god’s wrath or as omens by their 16th century European Christian contemporaries. They inspired a mixture of admiration and fear in an audience who were asking questions about god and nature. Though they had access to the social, intellectual, and educational advantages of being members of the court, they were also forced to perform as jesters. They often served as diplomats, delivering messages or gifts from one court to another, and were often used as gifts themselves.

There is evidence of exploiting people with dwarfism in ancient Roman mosaics and writings that document performances of mythological narratives or sporting events, and in ancient China. In ancient Egypt, people with dwarfism were often part of the royal court, though treated with far more respect, as they had sacred associations with the Egyptian dwarf gods, Ptah and Bes. Ptah is associated with rejuvenation and regeneration, and Bes is the protector of sexuality, childbirth, women, and children.

engravings by Cornelius Huyberts (1669-ca.1712) of dioramas by Frederic and Rachel Ruysch, 17th century

Frederic Ruysch (1638-1731) 

Ruysch was a Dutch anatomist, botanist, and obstetrician of the surgeon’s guild for 60 years. He introduced new embalming and preservation techniques and wrote extensively on pathology and surgery.

His identified several diseases and disorders; demonstrated the role of placenta in childbirthand; discovered the function of valves in the lymphatic system and the central artery of the eye; and described the circulatory system of the cortex.

Ruysch collected specimens, often arranging them in dioramas that reflected the contemporary interest in a genre of still-life painting called vanitas. His arrangements included human bones and hardened arteries and items called natura artificiosa, nature that had been altered for aesthetic purposes, like corals made from wax-filled arteries or polished gallstones. While these were considered macabre by some of his contemporaries, Ruysch believed the presenting the material this way would help the viewer overcome distaste for the subject matter. He also believed that they highlighted the complexity and delicacy of the organisms.

Ruysch wrote, in Latin and Dutch, a description of his collection, which was illustrated by Cornelius Huyberts and published in 1710 with the title Thesaurus animalium .

Peter the Great purchased the collection shortly before Ruysch’s death

Vanitas, by Franciscus Gysbrechts (1649- c.1677)

The vanitas genre emphasized death and decay and the folly of earthly attachments. Symbols of the fleeting nature of life included skulls, burning candles, and hour glasses. During the 15th century, these still lifes were painted on the backs of portraits to reiterate the message, but with the rising popularity of still-life painting, they emerged as an independent genre.

Over time, the subject matter expanded to include the luxury goods that were widely available. Painters took advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate skills in capturing the various textures and patterns of brocades, furs, metals and more. They used the motifs of vanitas to justify painting the sumptuous wares.

Butterlies and beetles, detail, from Levinus Vincent, Elenchus, 1719 

Levinus Vincent (1658- 1727)

Levinus Vincent’s collection is notable for his most unusual and personal way of displaying it.

He was a wealthy Dutch textile merchant and member of the painters guild who collected shells, corals, birds, insects, lizards, and small mammals, as well as botanical and ethnographic prints.

Inspired by the patterns of the textiles that they designed and sold, he and his wife arranged insects, shells, and other natural objects in decorative and symmetrical curls and loops based on size and color that imitated textile embroidery.

This was very different from other collectors’ attempts to put their specimens in some sort of rational order.

Levinius explained that his goal was to strengthen the religious faith of his visitors by highlighting the magnificence of nature. The couple hoped to present nature in a “harmonious and balanced ” state, which they believed had been lost after the fall of Adam and Eve.

His collection was open to the public and he published a catalog of the collection with the comically long (as was common) title Description abregée des planches qui representent les cabinets & quelques-unes des curiosités contenuès dans le theatre des merveilles de la nature de Levin Vincent, which was published in Dutch, French, and Latin, giving details of all the objects on display. 

Seba amassed his collection over decades and commissioned multiple artists to illustrate specimens from his collection. His portrait shows the process of developing the book- from the jar in his hand and shells on the table, to the color studies on loose paper, to the final printed product.

Seba established a reputable apothecary's shop in Amsterdam. He bought drugs from overseas and actively sought out new customers through newspaper advertisements. He also supplied departing ships with medicine and went to the docks to treat returning sailors, which gave him access and bargaining power to gather new specimens.

Anonymous illustration's from Seba's catalog. Note that the decorative compositions emphasize beauty over realism and that the arrangement of shells are inspired by Levinus Vincent. Seba's catalog includes many anomolies of nature. His Thesuarus emphasizes curiosity and beauty.

Seba joined forces with two publishers to share the expense of such an enormous project. His book, “Accurate description of the very rich thesaurus of the principal and rarest natural objects”  is a four volume series that includes close to 450 engravings.

He claimed in the intro to his “thesaurus” that the illustrations were based on his collection, but includes imaginary beings such as a 7 headed creature. He also included specimens copied from other resources, which was common practice in natural history compendiums.

He wrote the descriptions for the first two volumes, but had help from other naturalists in identifying and describing species in the last two volumes. Frederik Ruysch identified the snakes, and Peter Artedi described the fish. The focus is on external appearance with very little information on internal anatomy.

Following the lead of Maria Merian, the animals in the first volume are often composed into scenes, decorative motifs, or vignettes, rather than against a plain background. There were common discrepancies in the scale of the objects to each other, for which he was criticized.

The catalog was not completed until after his death and his family had to sell of his collection to cover the printing expenses.

In the last three volumes, the specimens are depicted in a more conventional manner, with no interaction between them. However, they are often arranged symmetrically or in a decorative pattern.

As is the case with most natural history books of this kind, many artists and illustrators created the templates for the printers or engravers, but did not receive credit, and so remain anonymous.

American Philosophical Society- was established in 1743 and modeled after the Royal Society of London and other European scientific clubs with “the expectation that the knowledge it generated would have applications in agriculture, manufacturing, and commerce”

Ben Franklin proposed that they create an agenda to investigate plants and cures for diseases, develop labor-saving mechanical inventions, make improvements in husbandry, map-making and land surveys, and planting- all of which he felt were under the umbrella of the “nature of things” and would increase man’s power over “matter” and increase his conveniences and pleasures.

Peale was concerned about the rampant use of resources and deforestation and hoped that he could instill stewardship by fostering an appreciation of nature by putting it on display in the city for all to see. The general public was more likely to come if there were oddities on display, so he featured a five legged cow to draw people in. He described his intentions as inviting them to read from the “great book of nature.”

Fellow scientist and member of the American Philosophical Society, Benjamin Franklin, supported Peale’s efforts to open the museum.

In Peale’s words, “every experiment that brings to light the properties of natural substances helps to expand the mind and make men better, more virtuous, and liberal; and, what is of infinite importance in our country, creates a fondness for finding the treasure contained in the bowels of the earth that might otherwise be lost”

Like many of his contemporaries, he believed that humans could increase productivity and work more efficiently by studying bees. Production and efficiency were major concerns to Americans, as they had just achieved independence from Britain and were trying to establish the agriculture, economy, and government of a new country. 

He also believed that the republic’s survival depended on the education of its citizens and felt that the promotion of knowledge was a duty.

American naturalists were also engaged in a rivalry with European ones, fueled by George-Louis leClerc, Comte du Buffon’s assertion that American creatures were smaller and more fragile versions of European ones. LeClerc claimed that the colder, wetter climate of the US caused degeneracy, putrefaction, and rot and that species introduced to the US would produce weak offspring. His writings included racist comments about native Americans. His unproven theories were printed in newspapers and journals around Europe and repeated as fact by other writers, which only really mattered because the newly independent US was struggling to find European investors and immigrant labor. 

Thomas Jefferson put a lot of energy into debunking his claims and defending native Americans. He published tables of measurements of the same species from both continents in his book, Notes on the State of VA, and even sent a panther skin and set of mastodon bones to LeClerc, who was not interested in the facts.

In addition, Americans were eager to establish their own cultural institutions. Yet Peale was never able to secure funding from the state legislature to keep his museum open, despite many appeals.

Peale was born on Kent Island in Maryland, near Annapolis. His father went to prison for embezzlement and died when Charles was 8, so he worked from a very young age to help support his family. He apprenticed in many trades, including saddle making and watch-repair, and then learned to paint. His talents were recognized by local merchants who funded his trip to London to study under American painter Benjamin West.

He used the skills learned from saddle making to improve the preservation of birds and mammals. By carving wooden bodies with muscles and stretching preserved skins over them, he was able to give a more natural appearance to the displays by posing them in motion. AND He was the first to paint dioramas representing the natural habitat of the displayed specimens.

After his death, his son Rembrandt moved the museum to Baltimore, though most of the natural specimens were sold to PT Barnum and have since decayed. Several of the paintings and prints are now in the possession of the Maryland Center for History and Culture and the original museum building has recently reopened as the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture.

Many Peale family paintings are in the PAFA, the Phila Museum of Art , and the Second Bank of America collections, and you can find some of their writings in the collections at the APS and the Library Co. He’s buried at St. Peter’s church in Society Hill, Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, founded by Peale and supporters under the name Columbianum in 1805, is a thriving art school.