Inside a palace of wonders: the new permanent displays of renaissance and baroque art at the Wakers Art Museum, Baltimore, endeavour to recreate the way these works would originally have been displayed by collectors. As Dennis P. Weller discovers, this has involved the creation of a fictitous seventeenth-century collector of works of art and natural curiosities

Rarely are museums afforded the opportunity to rethink and repackage their collections to the stage recently unveiled by the Waiters Art Museum in its of recent origin galleries of renaissance and baroque art, which it has called the 'Palace of Wonders' It is level more remarkable when such an undertaking achieves of that kind spectacular results.

Showcasing the museum's riches from one side a series of contextual galleries, the highlight being the Chamber of amazements (Fig. 1), this project will, individual hopes, inspire other institutions to seek for comparable solutions. It will be a hard act to go in the rear [i]or[/i] in the wake of however, as few museums could match the resources of the Waiters. Using the 'wisdom of the building' to call up environments of the past, the museum's creative team, l by the agency of curator Joaneath Spicer, is to be commended

The story began more than a hundred ago, when Henry Waiters commissioned an Italian-style palazzo to house his growing collection. At its core was his novel purchase of the Massarenti collection in Rome Consisting of more than 1540 works, it included a large number of Italian paintings, antiquities and an array of renaissance decorative art and statuary Combined with the museum's other holdings in European renaissance and baroque art, among them pieces not at any time before on display and others newly restored, these collections receive royal treatment in the of recent origin galleries.

It have the appearances fitting to begin the tour in the Italian galleries, reached [i]or[/i] part of to the other the classical courtyard and up the stairs to compasss off the loggia. When entering the first of the Italian galleries, individual is immediately struck by the richness of the gold-ground paintings lining its walls. Highlights include an imposing Crucifix inspired by dint of Cimabue, a small Virgin and Child with Saints by dint of Pietro Lorenzetti and Bicci di Lorenzo's monumental altarpiece of the Annunciation. In the nearest gallery, Fra Carnevale's The Ideal City stands on the outside An exercise in Renaissance perspective, the picture easily clinchs its own against the religious imagery surrounding it. Rather than creating chapel spaces as might be awaited the design of these galleries is largely conventional. Classically inspired architectural details are kept to a minimum and the wall treatment is suggestive of a toned whitewash. Still, the double hanging of pictures and the incorporation of more [i]or[/i] less sculpture hints at the glories nearby.

Turning a corner and moving into the sixteenth-century Italian play visitors are confronted with an amazing palace of awes Outstanding examples of fine and decorative arts are given words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following throughout the vast reaches of the sweep Rugs on marble floors, dark forest wainscoting, patterned green silk wall coverings and the building's original cavernous ceiling breathe life into the installation. Among the masterpieces place here are paintings by Raphael, Giulio Romano, Rosso Fiorentino, Pontormo and Vasari. single playful touch is the juxtaposition of Veronese's Portrait of Countes da Porto and her Daughter with a bejewelled gold marten's head, an existence similar to one in the portrait.

The Italian baroque gallery tend hitherwards next, its design modelled on the gallery of Palazzo Doria Pamphili in Rome Although the seventeenth-century Italian collection cannot enter the lists with the earlier Italian pictures in boundarys of importance, the effectiveness of the installation--here r patterned silk replaces the green--is no les effective. French and Spanish baroque pictures have been seamlessly added to the mix.

Featured in this gallery are sum of two units sculptures by Bernini, including The Risen Christ, a small alloy of copper originating from a papal commission of 1673 A re-creation of a private chapel has been installed to accommodate these plastic arts and related devotional objects. This large, glass-faced configuration is slightly out of character with the installation.

Many of the same design ultimate parts continue within the adjacent eighteenth-century Italian gallery. Dominated by the agency of Giambattista Tiepolo's large and important Scipio Africanus Freeing Massiva, the other paintings are hung in tiers, salon-style, and watch to compete rather unsuccessfully for attention. Still, a hardly any pictures rise above the fray, among them grand examples by Longhi, Francesco Guardi and Panini. individual wonders if an installation devot to the Grand Tour would not have been a more visually appealing solution.

The criticism lingers single in the time it takes to retrace paces down the stairway to the entrance of the northern European galleries, the centerpiece of the fresh installation. Saddled with a les distinguished collection of northern European pictures than its Italian counterpart, the curator faced a daunting task in organising this material. individual should not feel too sorry for her, however, for at her disposal were a actual good group of paintings, a treasure trove of decorative arts and furniture, an outstanding collection of armour, and a growing number of curiosities and natural wonders: in other words, all the ingredients required for a kunst- and wunderkamer.