Making Marvels: Science & Splendor at the Courts of Europe | Met Exhibitions

Watch a video preview of the forthcoming exhibition, Making Marvels: Science & Splendor at the Courts of Europe, on view at The Met Fifth Avenue from November 25, 2019 through March 1, 2020.

Between 1550 and 1750, nearly every royal family in Europe assembled vast collections of valuable and entertaining objects. Such lavish public spending and display of precious metals was considered an expression of power. Many princes also believed that the possession of artistic and technological innovations conveyed status, and these objects were often prominently showcased in elaborate court entertainments, which were characteristic of the period.

Making Marvels will explore the complex ways in which the wondrous items collected by early modern European princes, and the contexts in which they were displayed, expressed these rulers' ability to govern.