Hendrik Claudius

Last updated
Gomphocarpus cancellatus
Simon van der Stel's journey to Namaqualand 1685 Gomphocarpus cancellatus00.jpg
Gomphocarpus cancellatus
Simon van der Stel's journey to Namaqualand 1685

Hendrik Claudius aka Heinrich Claudius (c1655 Breslau - after 1697 Holland) was a German painter and apothecary or physician, noted for his 17th-century watercolours of South African plants and animals.

Claudius arrived in the Cape Colony from Batavia in 1682 to paint plants of medicinal interest. He joined Ensign Olof Bergh's second expedition in 1683 to Namaqualand in a quest to locate the source of rich copper ore. [1] It is thought that two years later he also joined Governor Simon van der Stel who had the same goal, and that he was responsible for the illustrations in an account of the expedition. He is also regarded as one of the artists contributing to Jacob Breyne's Exoticarum aliarumque minus cognitarum plantarum centuria prima. In all, the Africana Museum in Johannesburg acquired some 433 original watercolours ascribed to him. His work is also held by the South African Library in Cape Town, the British Museum, the library of Trinity College in Dublin and the University library of Marburg in Hesse. Many of the Claudius paintings were copied at the Cape in 1692 for Nicolaes Witsen, Mayor of Amsterdam, who included the copies in his Codex Witsenii.

Most of what is known about Claudius stems from his 1685 meeting with the visiting French Jesuit missionary, Father Guy Tachard. After seeing two large volumes of his works, Tachard ventured that Claudius was a competent painter of plants and animals, and that if the books had been for sale he would have purchased them for Louis XIV of France. Some of his further and rather indiscreet revelations in Voyage de Siam led to Claudius' deportation to Mauritius and Batavia by Simon van der Stel - Tachard wrote "It is from him that we obtained all our knowledge of the country. He gave us a little map made by his own hand." This, during a period when the Dutch occupiers of the Cape were extremely suspicious of the French and their designs on the southern tip of Africa. [2]

Related Research Articles

Jan van Riebeeck Dutch colonial governor (1619–1677)

Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator who located Cape Town and the Dutch Cape Colony of the Dutch East India Company.

The following lists events that happened during the 1680s in South Africa.

Simons Town Seaside town in the Western Cape, South Africa

Simon's Town, sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been a naval base and harbour. The town is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony.

Simon van der Stel Dutch colonial administrator

Simon van der Stel was the last commander and first Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony, the settlement at the Cape of Good Hope.

Thomas Baines British expedition artist (1820–1875)

(John) Thomas Baines was an English artist and explorer of British colonial southern Africa and Australia.

Groot Constantia Colonial manor house and wine estate in Cape Town, South Africa

Groot Constantia is the oldest wine estate in South Africa and provincial heritage site in the suburb of Constantia in Cape Town, South Africa.

Adriaan van der Stel was the opperhoofd of Mauritius from 1640 to 1645. He was succeeded by Jacob van der Meersch.

Adam Tas was a community leader in the Cape Colony at the turn of the 17th century, and is best known for his role in the conflict between Cape Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel and the Free Burghers at the Cape of Good Hope.

Willem Adriaan van der Stel

Willem Adriaan van der Stel was an Extraordinary Councillor of the Dutch East Indies, and Governor of the Cape Colony, a way station for the Dutch East India Company (VOC), from 23 January 1699 to 1707. He was dismissed after a revolt and was exiled to the Netherlands.

Gardens, Cape Town Inner-city suburb of Cape Town in Western Cape, South Africa

Gardens is an inner-city suburb of Cape Town located just to the south of the city centre located in the higher elevations of the "City Bowl" and directly beneath Table Mountain and Lion's Head. It is an affluent neighbourhood populated mostly by young professionals and contains numerous chic restaurants, hotels, boutique shops and loft apartments. The suburb is also a hub for the Cape Town creative industry, hosting the home of e.tv at Longkloof Studios and contains many modelling agencies, production and publishing companies and associated industries. It is also home to the world-famous five-star Mount Nelson Hotel.

Nicolaes Witsen Dutch statesman (1641–1717)

Nicolaes Witsen was a Dutch statesman who was mayor of Amsterdam thirteen times, between 1682 and 1706. In 1693 he became administrator of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). In 1689 he was extraordinary-ambassador to the English court and became Fellow of the Royal Society. In his free time, he was cartographer, maritime writer, and an authority on shipbuilding. His books on the subject are important sources on Dutch shipbuilding in the 17th century. Furthermore, he was an expert on Russian affairs. He was the first to describe Siberia, the Far East and Central Asia in his study Noord en Oost Tartarye [North and East Tartary].


Ryk Tulbagh was Governor of the Dutch Cape Colony from 27 February 1751 to 11 August 1771 under the Dutch East India Company (VOC).

Isaq Schrijver was a Dutch ensign and South African explorer. Although born and raised in Leiden, both his parents were born near Aachen, Germany. Little else is known of his origins, but by 1667 he was a marine.

Johannes Burman Dutch botanist of the 18th century

Johannes Burman, was a Dutch botanist and physician. Burman specialized in plants from Ceylon, Amboina and Cape Colony. The name Pelargonium was introduced by Johannes Burman.

History of South African wine History of wine in South Africa

The early history of the South African wine industry can be traced to the founding of a supply station at the Cape of Good Hope by the Dutch East India Company. Jan van Riebeeck was given the task of managing the station and planting vineyards to produce wine and grapes in the Wijnberg ; that could be used to ward off scurvy for sailors continuing on their voyages along the spice route. In 1685, another Cape Governor, Simon van der Stel, purchased a large 750-hectare (1,900-acre) estate, founding what later became the world-renowned Constantia wine estate. In the 19th century, South Africa fell under British rule which proved lucrative for the wine industry as South African wine flowed into the British market. This prosperity lasted until the 1860s when the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty signed by the Palmerston government and France reduced the preferential tariffs that benefited South African wine in favor of French wine exports.

Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve

Assegaaibosch Nature Reserve is an historic estate and currently a CapeNature nature reserve and World Heritage Site situated in the Jonkershoek Valley near Stellenbosch in the Western Cape province of South Africa. The historic estate was established by Dirk Coetsee, the progenitor of the Coetsee family in South Africa.

Companys Garden Park and heritage site in Cape Town, South Africa

The Company's Garden is the oldest garden in South Africa, a park and heritage site located in central Cape Town. The garden was originally created in the 1650s by the region's first European settlers and provided fertile ground to grow fresh produce to replenish ships rounding the Cape. It is watered from the Molteno Dam, which uses water from the springs on the lower slopes of Table Mountain.

Henrik Bernard Oldenland South African artist and botanist (1663–1697)

Henrik Bernard Oldenland aka Heinrich Bernhard Oldenland (c.1663–c.1697) was a German-born South African physician, botanist, painter and land surveyor, and is denoted by the author abbreviation Oldenl. when citing a botanical name.

Coetsenburg is an historic wine estate and one of the oldest estates in South Africa, established in 1682. It is located at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountain, which forms part of the estate, in the town of Stellenbosch, 31 miles (50 km) east of Cape Town, in the Cape Winelands of the Western Cape Province. The estate has historically been owned by the Coetsee family and is currently not open to the public. The north-western portion of the original estate is now the Coetsenburg Sports Grounds which belongs to the University of Stellenbosch.

Dirk Coetzee/Coetsee was the Hoofdheemraad (Chancellor) of the District of Stellenbosch and Drakenstein in South Africa for most of the 1690s and early 1700s. He also served as captain of the Stellenbosch Infantry and deacon of the Stellenbosch Moederkerk at different points in time. As captain of the Stellenbosch Infantry, which comprised mostly Huguenots, he provided military backing for a rebellion which began in 1706 against the Governor of the Cape Colony, Willem Adriaan van der Stel, whom the vrijburghers had accused of tyranny, corruption and racketeering. Coetsee was imprisoned in the dungeon of the Castle of Good Hope along with the other leaders of the Huguenots but he was released after a year. The rebellion ultimately succeeded in 1707 when the Dutch East India Company recalled the Governor and other colonial officials. An account of the rebellion is vividly described in the "Diary of Adam Tas".

References

  1. Gunn, Mary (1981). Botanical exploration of southern Africa : an illustrated history of early botanical literature on the Cape flora : biographical accounts of the leading plant collectors and their activities in southern Africa from the days of the East India Company until modern times. L. E. W. Codd. Cape Town: Published for the Botanical Research Institute by A.A. Balkema. p. 33. ISBN   0-86961-129-1. OCLC   8591273.
  2. Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa vol.3 - Frank Bradlow