The Experience of Nature

The Experience of Nature

March 19, 2025 - June 30, 2025
Exhibition catalogues

Exhibition catalogue Experience of Nature

MX038034
  • € 42
At the end of the 16th century, the Prague court of Emperor Rudolf II became a laboratory where the sciences and the arts could come together. Surrounded by scientists, botanists, astronomers and artists, Rudolf II collected scientific instruments and illustrations, testifying to a new view of nature, at once analytical and aesthetic. Fascinated by the natural sciences and occult knowledge, he encouraged a meticulous approach to the living world, inspiring artistic renewal. This sensitive and precise exploration of nature disregarded traditional forms and defined the art of its time.
The Experience of Nature

The Experience of Nature

March 19, 2025 - June 30, 2025

An extraordinary inventory of living things

Discover the arts in Prague under Rudolf II

The Experience of Nature. Art in Prague at the Court of Rudolf II

Like other great sovereigns, the Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1616) was a fervent advocate of the arts and sciences. During his reign, Prague became an intellectual hub where thinkers, scientists and artists from all over Europe came to meet. Passionate about nature as well as esotericism, astronomy and science, Rudolf II transformed his court into a research laboratory.

Bouquet de fleurs. Lille, Palais des Beaux-Arts © Photo GrandPalaisRmn (PBA, Lille) / J. Quecq d’Henripret.
Le Printemps, de la série des Quatre Saisons et quatre âges de l’homme. Musée du Louvre © Photo 2005 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / M. Beck-Coppola.
Vallée étendue, vue entre deux hauteurs rocheuses. Musée du Louvre © Photo 2012 Musée du Louvre, dist. GrandPalaisRmn / Th. Ollivier.
Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Vertumne. Stockholm, Skoklosters Slott
Hans Hoffmann, Lièvre entouré de plantes. Rome, Gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica © Photo gallerie Nazionali di Arte Antica, Roma / E. Fontolan

The "Experience of Nature" exhibition aims to highlight this singular current known as "naturalism", with its drawings of plants and animals by artists favoured by the Empire, the earliest attempts to establish of an inventory of living things.

In constant touch with nature, they expanded their range of practices and deployed a vast range of previously untapped materials and subjects. These new forms define our modern view of the arts in Prague under Emperor Rudolf II.

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