ABSTRACT
The rational, encylopaedic museum abandoned hermetic mystery and alchemy. Although Enlightenment – illuminating the dark, making visible the hidden, finding natural laws where there had only been the random caprice of supernatural agents –had brought an astonishing change, the popular appeal of the new museums was limited by their immense size and their staid, static displays. A revisit was an exact repeat. Something altogether more striking and dynamic was needed to satisfy curiosity.
