Knowledge Production, Image Networks, and the Material Significance of Feathers in Late Humanist Heidelberg

Examining the three volumes of birds assembled by Marcus zum Lamm (1544–1606), a Calvinist lawyer, court official, and church councillor in Heidelberg, this article explores visual and material cultures at a Calvinist court. We argue that Lamm was a pioneer in the production of new ornithological knowledge, an entrepreneur and enthusiast who experimented with colors and the arts in order to develop a means of representation that captured the vibrancy of feathers as a new and hitherto-unexplored feature for the classification of birds.