Amazement over technically, artistically, and functionally exceptional artefacts was a central element of the Faesch Museum. Objects in the collection were assembled not only to demonstrate the knowledge and skills of historical and contemporary craftsmen, artists, and scholars; they also put the erudite collector’s knowledge and taste on display. This included a knowledge of the inner workings of scientific instruments. The increasingly experimental science of the 17th century expressed itself in a growing interest in all kinds of scientific apparatuses. Telescopes, microscopes, various new measuring instruments, as well as new musical instruments, and utopian machines were all designed and sometimes built in this period. The term 'instrument' encompassed many meanings, then as now. Musical instruments, legal documents, tools, and scientific apparatus could all be called ‘instruments’.