Vatican Museums

Science and art collections, developed in Rome between 17^th and 18^th century, are the arguments of this volume, third of the Dentro il Palazzo series, born out of the collaboration among Vatican Museums, Sapienza University of Rome and the Getty Research Institute of Los Angeles.

The book consists of four thematic areas. The first one is dedicated to precious coins and gems, conserved in the small studies of the roman noble palaces.
The second part is about the botanical and zoological collections, which enriched the gardens of the aristocratic house of the Papal States and of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany with exotic plants and animals. A further section analyses clocks, spyglasses and telescopes, valuable objects in the scientific collecting and at the same time status symbol for the Roman elite.
The last part is dedicated to the modern meaning of Wunderkammer, between art and literature.

At the end of the volume, four sheets examine some iconic collections, like, for example that of the cardinal Scipione Borghese or the Alderano Cybo’s library. The photographs reflect the appeal and the elegance of these rooms of rarities, true repositories of wonders, born from the passion for collecting of nobles and scholars of the modern age.