Gerrit Wartenaar (Amsterdam, May 28, 1747 – Amsterdam, June 6, 1803) was an 18th-century painter from the Northern Netherlands. Gerrit Wartenaar was the son of the mapmaker Lambertus Wartenaar. In 1772, Gerrit married Maria Spekman, a woman fifteen years his elder who lived in his neighborhood, which was known as the

Jordaan The Jordaan is a neighbourhood of the city of Amsterdam, Netherlands. It is part of the borough of Amsterdam-Centrum. The area is bordered by the Singelgracht canal and the neighbourhood of Frederik Hendrikbuurt to the west; the Prinsengracht to ...

. Wartenaar was the draughtsman for a natural history publication commissioned by Pieter Cramer and produced by Caspar Stoll. Cramer, the director of a scientific society in Zeeland, had assembled an extensive collection of colourful butterflies and moths (

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order (biology), order of insects that includes butterfly, butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 Family (biology), families and 46 Taxonomic r ...

) and arranged to publish the drawings, but died before the work was completed. When Cramer died during the preparations, Caspar Stoll took over the responsibility for the project. Between 1775 and 1782 four volumes appeared in Amsterdam of ''De uitlandsche Kapellen voorkomende in de drie Waereld-Deelen Asia, Africa en America - Papillons exotiques des trois parties du monde l'Asie, l'Afrique et l'Amerique''. Every three months an issue was delivered, totalling 25 issues and the supplement. Two hundred and seventy people subscribed, who enjoyed some reduction. The drawings are scientifically very accurate although somewhat stylized. Wartenaar positioned each specimen in a pleasing decorative arrangement, perhaps reflecting the position of specimens in the collector's cabinet of curiosities. As most of the insect specimens used by Cramer and Stoll to describe new species have long since perished, the original drawings now have a special scientific status as iconotypes. Wartenaar lived all his life on

Egelantiersgracht The Egelantiersgracht in Amsterdam is a canal in the Jordaan neighbourhood in the Amsterdam-Centrum borough. The canal lies between the Prinsengracht and the Lijnbaansgracht. History The Jordaan, between the outer canal and the town wall, was p ...

, and in 1781 he drew a map of his neighborhood.In: Hofman, W. (1981) Burgerwijkkaarten met Repertorium, Wijk 45. A childless widower when he died, he was buried in Westerkerk.

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External links

Birth certificate of Gerrit Wartenaar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wartenaar, Gerrit 1747 births 1803 deaths 18th-century Dutch painters 18th-century Dutch male artists Dutch male painters Painters from Amsterdam