Warburg Haus
There was much interest after our first Workshop in Halle on the figure of the early museologist, Kiel University professor of medicine, Johann Daniel Major (1634-1693). A number of attendees decided that shared interests warranted another day of discussion, which was jointly planned for March 27, 2019 in Hamburg at the original Warburg Library, kindly hosted by Markus Friedrich (Hamburg). A lively day of discussion shows how much more remains to be explored around this pivotal and understudied figure. The program follows!
Johann Daniel Major – Study Day
27th March 2019, Warburg Haus, Heilwigstraße 116, 20249 Hamburg
Convenors: Markus Friedrich, Dominik Hünniger, Vera Keller, Martin Mulsow and Bernhard Schirg
Mattias Ekman presenting, photo courtesy of Lisbet Tarp
We are delighted that the Warburg Haus provides the venue for a first meeting of international scholars dedicated to the German collector, antiquarian and natural historian Johann Daniel Major (1634-1693). Major takes a central position in art history, where he is known as a scholar as well as practitioner of the early modern museum. Originally employed as professor of medicine at the newly founded University of Kiel, Major later established the Museum Cimbricum to display the early and natural history of his region. As collector as well as author, Major’s wide interests encompassed naturalia as well as antiquities, on which he published extensively in addition to his prolific writings on medical subjects. The study day intends to open up the vast horizon of Major as a central scholar of his time. In informal sessions, we explore the relationships he maintained with scholars, potentates and academies both at home and abroad (e.g. the Academia Naturae Curiosorum or the Accademia dei Lincei). We will also explore how Major practiced teaching, collecting and dedicating. The speakers at the study day will present on a variety of aspects connected to this fascinating figure in seventeenth-century museology and natural history. We warmly welcome participants interested in exploring these topics with us.
Vera Keller, photo courtesy of Lisbet Tarp
9:20-9:40: Coffee
9:40-9:45: Markus Friedrich: Welcome and Introduction
9:45-10:45: Vera Keller, The Experimental Century: Curating the early German Enlightenment
10:45-11:00 Coffee Break
11:00-12:00: Bernhard Schirg, The world was his oyster. Major’s studies of shells and the autumn of the emblematic age
12:00-2:00 Break for Lunch
2:00-3:00: Martin Mulsow, Johann Daniel Major and the Idea of a Global Numismatics
3:00-4:00: Mattias Ekman, To See the World in Classes: The Orders of Things in Johann Daniel Major’s Description of His Spatzier-Reise to the Nordic Countries
4:00-4:30: Concluding Discussion
Bernhard Schirg presenting, photo courtesy of Lisbet Tarp
