After the great geographical discoveries of the 15th and 16th centuries, the Netherlands ushered in its own golden age in the 17th century. Flying Dutch people were all over the world, and sea coachmen carried silk, porcelain and spices into the port of Amsterdam. The sailors on board brought back endless anecdotes and countless treasures.
The cabinet of curiosities is considered the predecessor of the museum
And on the docks, the old acquaintances of the sailors, the most well-known local pharmacists, are eagerly awaiting their return. The pharmacist runs a well-known pharmacy in the area called the "german apothecary's shop" (German apothecary's shop). The sailor brought the herbs he needed, the exotic plants and minerals he used to develop new medicines, and the specimens of insects, reptiles, and aquatic animals that he was most interested in.
He could always get the best specimens, because he supplied the merchant ships offshore with medicines and healed the wounds of sailors who arrived in port, and no one else could ever fight him. He also wanted two copies of the good things as much as possible, kept one, and sold one.
This shrewd Dutch pharmacist even made money on the head of Peter the Great of Russia. The Tsar had a kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, a curiosity hall for exotic animals from all over the world, and the pharmacist was his most stable and high-quality "supplier". His name was Albertus Seba, and his cabinet of natural curiosities played an important role in the history of natural history. In 1735, Carl Linnaeus visited Sebah's Rare Room twice, which had a great influence on his taxonomy of flora and fauna.
Albertus Seba
1665.5.12 — 1736.5.2
In this portrait, the back wall and in Shiba's right hand are soaked specimens of snakes
The museum collection is inextricably linked to the museum catalogue. For many years, Shiba hired artists to record his collection in the form of etchings. On October 30, 1731, Shiba signed an agreement with two publishers in Amsterdam, deciding to publish more than 400 of his works. In the end, the tome included 446 works, including 175 cross-page works. Among them, reptiles, especially snakes, account for the vast majority, so let's enjoy this wonderful work of thesaurus.
Shiba's profession was that of a pharmacist, while the snake staff was a symbol of medicine in the West. Shiba's love of snake specimens is worth playing.
Asclepius in Greek mythology
Holding a single snake staff, he is revered as a healing god
The rod of asclepius has now become a symbol of health care
From 1734 to 1765, the thesaurus took 31 years to complete. The author himself, on May 2, 1736, had died. In 1752, the heirs of Sebah's estate organized an auction of the collection to maintain the publication funds. At present, these collections are preserved in the Zoological Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. Petersburg Zoological Museum), the Stockholm Museum of Nature, the Amsterdam Zoological Museum, and the British Museum in London, which are the most important collections of institutions.
cabinet of natural curiosities
A collection of Shiba's works edited and published by the German publishing house Taschen
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