# April 12, 2019: Symposium at New York: Prudence, Techne, and the Practice of Good Governance in the Early Modern Kunstkammer In 1565, Leo Quiccheberg wrote a brief dedication to Emperor Maximilian II, recommending his brother Samuel Quiccheberg’s treatise on collecting, the *Inscriptiones vel tituli Theatri amplissimi,* which would be published later in the same year*.* By reading Samuel’s book, the ruler would learn “… what, from founding a theater of this sort, might be gained for Your Majesty’s *prudentia* from such a *Kunst und Wunderkammer.*” Written at the moment when the Habsburgs, Wittelsbachs, and other princely houses were first establishing collections as state institutions, this is among the earliest texts to connect museums with the ability to govern wisely and effectively. Both Leo and Samuel employ *prudentia* in specific reference to Aristotelian *phronesis,* the form of contingent wisdom required of rulers to respond to constantly changing circumstances. Above all, as Samuel’s treatise makes clear, a *Kunstkammer* might aid the ruler’s *prudentia* through technological development, especially at the service of the state’s economy and military, but also religion and learning. This conference explores the intertwined histories and philosophies of governance, *techne*, and collecting in the early-modern period. In particular, speakers will examine how the intersection of these three realms was informed by a newly pragmatic sensibility. --- 9:30 am Peter N. Miller Bard Graduate Center **Welcome** Andrew Morrall Bard Graduate Center Mark A. Meadow University of California, Santa Barbara **Introduction** **Texts/Theory/Codification of Ideas** 9:50 am Mark A. Meadow University of California, Santa Barbara **Quanta prudentia et usus administrandæ reipublicæ: Mylaeus and Quiccheberg on the Utility of Techne** 10:30 am Vera Keller University of Oregon **Jakob Bornitz and the Cameralists’ Kunstkammer** 11:10 am **Coffee Break** 11:30 am Alessandra Russo Columbia University **An Indestructible “Indian World” of Artists: Art, Prudence, and Desire in Bartolomé de las Casas’s Apologetic History** 12:10 pm **Lunch Break** **Collections and Objects** 1:30 pm Jessica Keating Carleton College **Fruits of the Flesh: Abundance and Prudence in the Collection of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II** 2:10 pm Andrew Morrall Bard Graduate Center **“For practical utility \[and\] noble meditations”: Craft, Techne, and the Pursuit of Virtue in the Early Modern Kunstkammer** 2:50 pm **Coffee Break** **Techne and Practice** 3:10 pm Tina Asmussen ETH Zürich **Mining Investment and Antiquarian Practices in Late Sixteenth-Century Basel** 3:50 pm Ana Matisse Donefer-Hickie The Metropolitan Museum of Art **The Noble Art: Alchemy at Court** **Comment and Roundtable** 4:30 pm Pamela H. Smith Columbia University **Comment** 5:15 pm **Reception** See also:- [ News and Announcements ](/news-and-announcements/news-and-announcements)