While death has largely disappeared as a primary fixture of early 21st century Central European consciousness, it was the central antagonist of everyday experience in the 17th century. It is therefore not surprising that the motif of transience also shaped the intention behind Faesch's Wunderkammer. Death and ruin are omnipresent here in both objective and allegorical forms – as is the promise of redemption, which appears as a transcendent and terrestrial experience simultaneously: the final desire for unity with Christ mingles with concerns regarding an earthly legacy. Vanitas and memoria, earthly vanity and the striving for lasting recognition, are recurring motifs in the Faesch Collection, as are death and redemption – mors and salvatio – as recognisable elements of Faesch’s curatorial practice.