The Gentleman, the Virtuoso, the Inquirer: Vincencio Juan de Lastanosa and the Art of Collecting in Early Modern Spain

The Gentleman, the Virtuoso, the Inquirer: Vincencio Juan de Lastanosa and the Art of Collecting in Early Modern Spain explores the history of the Aragonese Vincencio Juan de Lastanosa (1607-1682) as scientific collector: his cabinet of curiosities, the garden created in the enviroment of his palace, his chemical laboratory, and the books, manuscripts, maps and other curiosities collected in his library.At once a patron, courtier, and ‘curioso’, Lastanosa was deeply inmersed in the culture of ‘virtuosity’ and its fascination with the wonders and secrets of nature.Lastanosa was, perhaps, not an innovator, and certainly no Baconian, but, like many others collectors of his day, in his own way he furthered the ideal of factuality that was of cardinal importance in the early stages of the Scientific Revolution.