Description
Book SynopsisThe protagonists of this study are three works of early modern goldsmithing: a hand stone, a turban snail jug and a globe goblet. The author presents these artefacts as carriers of knowledge about nature and locates them within complex interrelationships of material, technical, political, philosophical and geographical nature. The fact that they are made (arte factum) refers to the artistic ability of humans as well as the cultural status of art-technical processes. Located at the interface between art and nature, the works are witnesses to an artisanal epistemology and take part in the discourse on empiricism and experiment. They enable actions, create relationships with one another, and demand order and categorization. The study shows that theory building in the early modern times did not have to be based exclusively on language and calls for a rethinking of these virtuoso and complex works of art, which were previously barely visible as applied arts.
