‘Triptych of the Crucifixion and Sibyls’ (1584)Before the development of public museums as we know them, princes, aristocrats and wealthy spirits of a scholarly bent collected works of art and objects of wonderment, which they displayed in chambers known as “treasure rooms” or “cabinets of curiosities.” Along with preserved animals, fossils, mineral specimens and other scientific rarities, these collections often included works in gold and silver, precious enamels, sacred relics, mechanical automata and related objects. Princely collections like the Habsburg Imperial Treasury in Vienna and Dresden’s Green Vault ( Grünes Gewölbe), renowned in their day, remain so today.

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