Art has always been a way to explore the world around us, and to create an order in the diversity of sensory impressions and ideas about the nature of reality. In Dutch culture this way of practicing art as a way of mapping the world is evident from the 15th century onward and exemplified in the popularity of still-life and animal painting, landscapes and townscapes.

In a broader sense we find many images with moral and scientific implications.

Collecting is another way to connect to the world and has many parallels and contacts with artistic activity. The Dutch have always been great collectors, of beautiful natural objects such as shells, flowers or naturalized birds, as well as of artistic creations from Egyptian sculptures to Chinese vases, without forgetting ethnographic curiosa and scientific objects like maps.

Whereas in most countries, these interests were – until the 19th century - the privilege of princes, in the Dutch republic, a society without a clear hierarchy but with an upward social dynamic, practically anybody, even with modest means, could become owner of works of art and collector of interesting objects.