This book offers a thorough exploration of the ways in which Gdańsk artists captured nature through art, along with the role of collectors who sought both natural specimens and their artistic representations. Still life painting and scientific illustrations reflected the collectors’ wide-ranging interests from the wonders of the natural world to meticulously arranged displays of objects. The study illustrates how such a culture of collecting influenced artistic production. Gdańsk, a significant Baltic trade center, fostered an environment for exchanging ideas and objects. This book sheds new light on the interconnectedness of artistic creation, collecting practices, and intellectual life in the early modern city and provides a compelling view of a specific time and place where the passion for objects shaped art and society. Art and science in early modern timesHistory of collecting and still-life paintingGdańsk as a trade and cultural center