Arnout Vosmaer (23 September 1720 – 15 January 1799) was a Dutch naturalist and collection curator.
Life
Arnout Vosmaer was born in
Rotterdam
Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...
on 23 September 1720 and died in
The Hague
The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
on 15 January 1799. Very little is known about his personal life.
In 1756 Vosmaer became the director of a natural history collection started by
Princess Anna, the wife of
William IV, Prince of Orange
William IV (Willem Karel Hendrik Friso; 1 September 1711 – 22 October 1751) was Prince of Orange from birth and the first hereditary stadtholder of all the United Provinces of the Netherlands from 1747 until his death in 1751. During his whole l ...
and continued by their son
William V William V may refer to:
*William V, Duke of Aquitaine (969–1030)
*William V of Montpellier (1075–1121)
*William V, Marquess of Montferrat (1191)
*William V, Count of Nevers (before 11751181)
*William V, Duke of Jülich (1299–1361)
*William V, ...
. Vosmaer held the post until the
Batavian Revolution in 1795.
[
]
Works
Vosmaer produced a series of 34 booklets describing animals that were published between 1766 and 1805 in both Dutch and French. Most were on species kept in Prince William V's menagerie. Each booklet included at least one and sometimes two plates engraved by Simon Fokke
Simon Fokke (1712–1784) was a Dutch designer, Etching, etcher, and Engraving, engraver. Born in Amsterdam, he was a pupil of J. C. Philips, and was chiefly employed by booksellers to engrave small portraits and vignettes. He died in Amsterdam in ...
, many of which were based on watercolours by Aert Schouman
Aert Schouman or Aart Schouman (4 March 1710 – 5 July 1792) was an 18th-century painter, now better known as a glass engraver, from the Dutch Republic.
Schouman was born in Dordrecht. When 15 years old he served as apprentice to the Dordrec ...
.[
Thirty three of the booklets were gathered together after Vosmaer's death and published with the unwieldy title: ''Natuurkundige beschryving eener uitmuntende verzameling van zeldsaame gedierten, bestaande in Oost- en Westindische viervoetige dieren, vogelen en slangen, weleer leevend voorhanden geweest zynde, buiten den Haag, op het Kleine Loo van Z.D.H. den prins van Oranje-Nassau'', usually referred to simply as ''Regnum animale''.]eclectus parrot
The eclectus parrot (''Eclectus roratus'') is a parrot native to the Solomon Islands, Sumba, New Guinea and nearby islands, northeastern Australia, and the Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is unusual in the parrot family for its extreme sexual dimor ...
native to North Maluku
North Maluku ( id, Maluku Utara) is a province of Indonesia. It covers the northern part of the Maluku Islands, bordering the Pacific Ocean to the north, the Halmahera Sea to the east, the Molucca Sea to the west, and the Seram Sea to the south. ...
is named after him.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vosmaer, Arnout
Dutch naturalists
1720 births
1799 deaths