Nobility Scientific Collections in Madrid in the second half of Eighteenth century. Two cases of study: The Counts- Dukes of Benavente- Osuna and The Dukes of Infantado.
Abstract
The rise in the production of scientific instruments, linked to the new empirical method and the scientific disciplines that were developing during the 18th century, gave rise to a renewed scientific collecting among the enlightened elites. Parallel to the provision of laboratories in educational institutions, the great noble families set up experimental physics cabinets in their palaces and introduced the most innovative and spectacular experiences in their social gatherings. Scientific practice and new instruments were valued for their educational, playful, scientific knowledge development, as well as utilitarian applications in the country's technical innovation, becoming symbols of status and power within social hierarchies. The main objective of this article is to reconstruct and value some of these noble collections, assessing their role in this stage of cultural, social, and economic renewal.
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