Science and Splendor at the Courts of Europe
This exhibition of some 150 objects looks at the intersection of art and technology in royal European collections between the 16th and the 18th centuries. With everything from an alchemical table bell to astronomical clocks, the exhibition explores how ruling families surrounded themselves with objects of wonder – as emblems of status, but also to advance the realm of scientific knowledge. Find out more from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s website.
Preview the exhibition below | View Apollo’s Art Diary here

Celestial globe with clockwork (1579), Gerhard Emmoser. Courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

‘The Moving Monk’ (c. 1550), probably Spanish, possibly circle of Juanelo Turriano. Courtesy National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.

Astronomical display clock of Otto Henry, Elector Palatine (1554–61), Philipp Imser, with Gerhard Emmoser. Courtesy Technisches Museum, Vienna

Alchemical table bell of Emperor Rudolf II (c. 1600), Hans Bulla. Photo: Kunsthistorisches Museum–Museumsverband
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