Past exhibition

Exhibition Crafting Worldviews: Art and Science in Europe, 1500–1800

February 17, 2023 – June 25, 2023

Crafting Worldviews: Art and Science in Europe, 1500–1800 examines the inseparable relationship among art, science, and European colonialism from the 16th through the 18th century—an era of voyage, trade, and Europe’s territorial dominance on a global scale. The objects featured in this multidisciplinary exhibition cross the modern-day boundaries of art and science and range from the everyday, such as books, maps, globes, drafting tools, microscopes, playing cards, and sundials, to the more unusual, such as a hand-cranked model of the solar system, an automaton clock, and anatomical figures carved in ivory. Drawn from across the University’s campus and crafted from both locally and globally obtained materials, including brass, ivory, mahogany, and ebony, the works featured are remarkable not just for their exquisite design but also their intricate construction. Together, they illuminate the critical role that art and science have played in shaping Europeans’ understanding of the world and their place within it.

Unknown German artists, Automaton Clock in the Shape of Diana on Her Chariot, first quarter 17th century. Case: gilt brass and ebony; dials: partly enameled silver; movement: brass and iron. Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Mrs. Laird Shields Goldsborough in memory of Mr. Laird Shields Goldsborough, B.A. 1924

A globe resting on a surface in front of its case. The case consists of two semicircles, possibly hinged. The yellowish-green interior of the case is covered with lines and ornamentation.

Pocket Globe with a Case (signed: “LANE’s Improved GLOBE | London”), England, ca. 1783–1803. Hand-colored gores and steel; case: shagreen and brass. The Lentz Collection, On loan to the Yale Peabody Museum

A group of circular objects arranged in four rows of six, stacked one atop the other. Each of the objects bears a different design, including plant forms and insects.

Set of 24 Microscope Slides (signed: “AYpelaar & comp”), Netherlands, ca. 1808–11. Brass, glass, ivory, mahogany, natural specimens, and a handwritten inscription in brown ink. Yale Peabody Museum, The Lentz Collection 

Views of the Exhibition

View of an exhibition with red walls. A title wall is on the left and reads, "Crafting Worldviews" View of an exhibition with red walls. A pedestal with a brass telescope is in the foreground and paintings are on the walls in the distance A view of an exhibition with red walls. An open book is in the right, foreground in an enclosed case. Other pedestals with objects are in the room
  • View of an exhibition with red walls. A title wall is on the left and reads, "Crafting Worldviews"
  • View of an exhibition with red walls. A pedestal with a brass telescope is in the foreground and paintings are on the walls in the distance
  • A view of an exhibition with red walls. An open book is in the right, foreground in an enclosed case. Other pedestals with objects are in the room

Watch the Video

Exhibition made possible by the Jane and Gerald Katcher Fund for Education. Organized by Jessie Park, the Nina and Lee Griggs Assistant Curator of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery, and Paola Bertucci, Associate Professor, History of Science and Medicine Program, Yale University, and Curator of the History of Science and Technology Division, Yale Peabody Museum; in collaboration with Alexi Baker, Collections Manager, History of Science and Technology Division, Yale Peabody Museum; and with the assistance of Manon Gaudet and Kartika Puri, Graduate Curatorial Interns, Department of European Art, Yale University Art Gallery, and Ida Brooks, PC ’24.