Curiosity Cabinet of Ole Worm

At the bottom center of this frontispiece is a tablet containing the title and publication information for the volume printed on shells and bones.

This print displays a method of scientific inquiry called ‘proto-empiricism', a type of study of specific items grounded in sensory experience.

[1] Items in the collection are objects of scientific inquiry that allow viewers to dive deeper into the wonder and mystery of the cabinet through said proto-empiricism.

The large light bringing windows offer a visual contrast to the dark wood and shadow filled interior of the room.

[4]  He went to school to become a physician and polymath and later went on a self termed “grand tour” [5] of Europe where he spent much time visiting museums and collections.

Worm gathered a wide range of different types of artifacts from the natural world such as bones, rocks and minerals, and stuffed animals and birds, together with man-made artefacts and antiquities, including Roman jewellery, tools and scientific instruments.

[6] This phase of collecting is what initiated his passion that developed into his curiosity and publication: Natural Specimens and Wondrous Monsters.

Stimulated by the rise of experimental science, it developed in the 17th and 18th centuries, expounded in particular by John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.