People have been fascinated by the curious and precious since time immemorial. During the Renaissance and Baroque, the combination of these two aspects was a firm feature of cabinets of curiosities – and elsewhere.

Also closely linked to the princely ambition and prestige were the gun rooms, where not only the weapons actually used in hunting were kept. Often, these were cabinets of curiosities in themselves, where pistols and rifles preciously decorated with silver and ivory stood side by side with others which, because of their technical sophistication and curiosity value, were regarded as mechanical works of art.

The exhibition presents these in every way outstanding curiosities from the collection and explains how they came to be created.

Until 7 Nov. 2021: every day from 9.30am-5pm

From 9 Nov. 2021: Tues-Sun 1pm-4pm, Mondays closed

Closed on 24, 25 and 31 Dec. 2021 and on Shrove Tuesday (1 Mar. 2022)