Exploring the Allure of the Cabinet of Curiosities With Georg Laue and Dr. Jens Burk

Georg Laue, Kunstkammer Georg Laue Munich, and Dr. Jens Burk, Bayerisches Nationalmuseum Munich, give insight into the fascinating world of the cabinet of curiosities and explore the ivory treasures in the collections of the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum in Munich. Both renowned experts in ivory sculpture, Laue and Burk investigate the artistic importance of this highly valued and fragile material, as well as the virtuosity that comes to light in ivory sculptures and turned ivories from the 16th–18th centuries, in the latest video from TEFAF Stories.

The Bayerisches Nationalmuseum boasts one of the most important collections of Renaissance and Baroque ivory artworks worldwide. Entering the new exhibition space dedicated to ivory art from the 16th–18th centuries, visitors discover a multitude of turned cups displayed in a dark interior with elegant lighting, and marvel at masterpieces of cabinet-making and sculpture that come from the dynastic collections of the reigning dynasty of the Wittelsbach and have been cherished for centuries for their beauty and artistic value.

In walking distance from the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, the Kunstkammer Georg Laue displays objects from the Renaissance and Baroque period that had originally been admired in cabinets of curiosities. Vessels made of amber, lapis lazuli, coral, rock-crystal, and coconut stand next to cups, tankards, and sculptures of ivory. These precious and elaborate artworks recreate the atmosphere of the princely Kunstkammer that represented a microcosm, reproducing the world in miniature and, therefore, illustrated one’s position in the universe with the display of their “artificial” creations.