Christian VIII´s konkyliesamling, tavle II 1837

This print of shells, part of Christian VIII's shell collection, was made by an anonymous artist at an unknown date. The work reflects the intense interest in natural history that swept through Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries. Shells, like ancient ruins, became potent symbols of a world that was both knowable through scientific classification, yet also held hidden secrets. The very act of collecting and categorizing natural specimens was tied to the growth of museums as public institutions and the rise of scientific societies. This image, with its ordered rows and meticulous detail, embodies the Enlightenment's ambition to catalogue and control the natural world. To fully understand this print, we would need to delve into the history of scientific illustration, explore the royal collections of the time, and examine the social networks of naturalists and collectors. Only then can we begin to appreciate the cultural values embedded in what might first appear as a simple display of shells.