Hunting Secrets. Giovan Battista Della Porta and the Invention of Experimental Magic

The volume collects the proceedings of the conference held at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice within the EU-funded MSCA project SECRETS. The volume investigates Giovan Battista Della Porta’s Magia naturalis (1589) as a cornerstone of early modern knowledge. Adopting a multidisci-plinary approach—from experimental science and epistemology to art, music, and gender—the contributions explore the complex “reform of magic” imple-mented by Della Porta. The essays analyze the work’s experimental back-ground, its use of ancient sources, and its reception in the seventeenth century. This collection offers a new perspective on how Magia naturalis re-defined the boundaries of nature and magic at the dawn of the modern age.