Robert Fludd - A journey through his published works

View the online exhibition here

My online exhibition guides you through the cosmoses of Robert Fludd (1574-1637). He was an English physician who embarked on an ambitious project: the publication of a series of books dedicated to the survey of all the human knowledge available at his time.

The  exhibition comments on some of the outstanding plates which embellish his books, translates the most significant passages and, above all, gives for the first time a complete and accurate overview of his huge plan.

‌a book Frontispiece printed in black and white. As well as publication details, there is a diagram of a circle with concentric lines and a naked male form standing with arms and legs outstretchedFrontispiece of the De utriusque cosmi, maioris scilicet et minoris, metaphysica, physica, atque technica historia (Oppenheim, 1617)

The University of Glasgow's Special Collections Department holds all of Robert Fludd's published books. It is a real treasure awaiting rediscovery after many years of oblivion. My project has given these works the attention they deserve. Written almost entirely in Latin and organised in an apparently complex way which our modern mind cannot easily grasp, his works are still widely unknown.

 

 

printed portrait of Robert Fludd - a man in 17th century dress: He has a pointed beard and moustache and a downward sloping neck ruff collar. His right hand is held up on frontPortrait of Robert Fludd

  

Luca Guariento, 3rd Year PhD candidate - Music

Ph.D. research
My Ph.D. project investigates Robert Fludd's use of music as a metaphorical tool to understand and represent the macrocosm (the heavens), the microcosm (man) and their relationship.