ABSTRACT
The library and museum of Ferdinando Spinelli, prince of Tarsia which opened to the public in 1747 and soon became one of the most attractive Neapolitan destinations for educated travellers and Grand Tourists was a space for learning and display that defied all classifications. Focusing on this original space of learning and display, is a contribution to the history of Naples as well as to the history of collecting and display, and to the history of science. It moves from the consideration that displaying collections entails a manipulation of space that is shaped by contemporary conceptions of knowledge and of the social functions it should serve. Palazzo Tarsia was designed by the most celebrated Neapolitan architect, Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, upon the commission of Ferdinando Vincenzo Spinelli, prince of Tarsia. Ideal architectural structures were often invoked in early modern writings on human learning.
