Renaissance Period (1400-1600)
- By end of 16th century private museums common in Europe. First were cabinets of curiosity later as cabinets of the world.
- Cabinets of the world (Kunstkammers) attempted to create models of nature.
- Cabinets included objects of magical powers, fossils, precious stones, classical artifacts and reproductions. (Little discrimination between original and reproductions.)
- Ordering and relationships of objects provided the message but message may be partially hidden.