Contact
Catherine LastavicaThe Thomas Jefferson Memorial Center
978-526-1641
kathy.willy@verizon.net
The Philosophy Chamber: Art and Science at Harvard’s Teaching Cabinet, 1766-1820
Between 1766 and 1820, Harvard College assembled an extraordinary American art Collection. Comprised of paintings, prints, sculptures and Native American artifacts as well as scientific instruments and natural specimens used in teaching and research, this collection was housed in the Philosophy Chamber, a grand room adjacent to the library. Filled with works of outstanding quality, ranging from full-length portraits by John Singleton Copley to exceptional examples of Hawaiian feather work and Northwest Coast Indian carving, from paintings by Gilbert Stuart and John Trumbull to mezzotints after the work of expatriate American artists, the Philosophy Chamber was a well-known landmark in the Revolutionary and early National period. The subject of this talk is The Philosophy Chamber: Art and Science in Harvard’s Teaching Cabinet 1766-1820, a forthcoming exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums that will reassemble this historic collection for the first time in more than 200 years.