Contents

A Note to the Curious: On Reading This Book  

Acknowledgments  

INTRODUCTION

Entombed Enchantment: Historiography and the Heterogeneous

Visions of Modernity: An Introduction

1    COLLECTION

Unpacking the Collection

Visions of Wonderment: Overcoming the Logic of the Treasure Hoard

Of Lux and Lumen: Reflections on the Sacred

The Rainbow Madonna: The Transparency of Scientific Knowledge

The “Enlightenment” of Curiosity: Dispelling the Enchantment of Collection

The Fox, the Fake, and the Firmament

The Renewal of Worlds: The “Knowing” Prince and the Cult of the Machine

Postscript: From Collection to Exhibition

2    BODIES

Scientific Prestidigitations: The “Collection” and Repatriation of Yagan

The Three Tasks of Andreas Vesalius: A “Biography” of Anatomy

The Life of Infamous Men

The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaas Tulp

Representing Open Bodies: The Birth of a Scientific Gaze

Normative Science and the “Evasiveness” of Anatomical Illustration

Carnivalesque Anatomy: The Narrative of the Criminal-God

Beyond Iconography: Toward a Reclamation of the Sacred

Conclusion: Dissecting Statues / Invigorating Knowledge

Postscript: Fragments of Yagan

3    SPACES

Visions of Modernity: Perspectives on the Sacred

Painting the “World Picture”: Toward a Genealogy of Cartography

Moral Geographies / Earthly Technologies: The Magic of Geometric Perspective

Cartographic Desire: Mapping and the Erasure of Space

Mapping and the Colonization of Space

Modernity in Ascension: The World Picture Mourning the Celestial

Postscript: The Maze of Linear Discourse

CONCLUSION

Scientific “Visions” of the Living Body

Monuments and Masks: Visions of a Modern Sacred

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index