Editing Frederik Ruysch (section)

==Ruysch's cabinet==
Frederik Ruysch was both the founder and creator of a museum of anatomy, which was located within his own private residence. The museum was a popular tourist attraction for Amsterdam and was known throughout the educated world. It was a private collection, but Ruysch opened it to the public. An admission was charged, and a guide headed tours throughout the five rooms.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=IJpma|first1=Frank F.A.|last2=Radziun|first2=Anna|last3=van Gulik|first3=Thomas M.|date=September 2013|title='The anatomy lesson of Dr. Frederik Ruysch' of 1683, a milestone in knowledge about obstetrics|url=https://www.ejog.org/article/S0301-2115(13)00270-4/fulltext|journal=European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology|language=en|volume=170|issue=1|pages=50–55|doi=10.1016/j.ejogrb.2013.05.028|pmid=23845171|issn=0301-2115}}</ref> The collection was separated into three different categories. Dry preparations included skeletons and dried organs, wet injection preparations included preservations in bottles with easily removable lids, and the last category was wet preparations in jugs with elaborate decorations. The last category could not be handled easily without risking damage to the preparation itself.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Knoeff|first=Rina|date=February 2015|title=Touching anatomy: On the handling of preparations in the anatomical cabinets of Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731)|journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences|language=en|volume=49|pages=32–44|doi=10.1016/j.shpsc.2014.11.002|pmid=25543883|issn=1369-8486}}</ref>

Unique to his collections were the inclusion of infant and fetal bodies, which composed approximately one-third of his entire collection. He purchased the majority of these specimens from midwives that worked under him, after the child died or when a pregnancy resulted in a miscarriage. His still lifes and displays that contained the bodies of infants, or parts thereof, were typically displayed with clothing, bonnets, or even glass eyes. By adding these elements, Ruysch was able to cover the marks and stitches from the embalming process and give his displays a more lifelike appearance.<ref name=":0" /> While some of his displays had abnormalities and defects, the main goal of his collections was to create works of art that he believed showed the perfection of the human body.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kemp|first=Martin|date=1999|title=Babes in bottles: the anatomical art of Frederik Ruysch|journal=Nature|volume=399|issue=6731|pages=34|doi=10.1038/19906|s2cid=4417719|doi-access=free}}</ref> In her early years, his daughter [[Rachel Ruysch]], a painter of still lifes, had helped him to decorate the collection with flowers, fishes, seashells and the delicate body parts with [[lace]].<ref>Jay, Mike (December 8, 2022). "The Melancholy of Anatomy". ''The New York Review of Books'' '''69''' (19): 38–40.</ref>

By the time Ruysch was 24, his cabinet had become extremely popular and attracted the attention of many foreign dignitaries.<ref name=":0" /> In 1697, [[Peter the Great]] and [[Nicolaes Witsen]] visited Ruysch who had all the specimens exposed in five rooms, on two days during the week open for the public. He told Peter, who had a keen interest in science, how to catch [[butterfly|butterflies]] and how to preserve them. They also had a common interest in [[lizard]]s.<ref>Driessen, J. (1996) Tsaar Peter de Grote en zijn Amsterdamse vrienden, p. 8.</ref> Together they went to see patients. In 1717, during his second visit, Ruysch sold his "repository of curiosities" to [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]] for 30,000 [[guilder]]s, including the secret of the liquor: clotted pig's blood, [[Berlin blue]] and [[mercury oxide]].<ref>Driessen-Van het Reve, J.J. (2006) De ''Kunstkamera'' van Peter de Grote. De Hollandse inbreng, gereconstrueerd uit brieven van Albert Seba en Johann Daniel Schumacher uit de jaren 1711-1752. English summary, p. 338.</ref> Ruysch refused to help when everything had to be packed and labelled. It took [[Albertus Seba|Albert Seba]] more than a month. The 100 [[Packaging and labeling|colli]] were not sent immediately, but because of the [[Great Nordic War]] in the year after, divided over two ships. The collection was intact, and the rumours about the sailors that drunk the alcohol, are untrue.

Ruysch immediately began anew in his house on [[Bloemgracht]], in the [[Jordaan]]. After his death this collection was sold to [[August the Strong]].<ref>[http://www1.medizin.uni-halle.de/iaz/meckel/start.htm Kapitel 6] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070611123307/http://www1.medizin.uni-halle.de/iaz/meckel/start.htm |date=2007-06-11 }}.</ref> While some of his preserved collections remain, none of his scenes have survived. They are only known through a number of engravings, notably those by [[Cornelis Huyberts]].

He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1715.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27ruysch%27%29|title = Fellows Details|publisher = Royal Society|access-date = 10 May 2014|archive-date = 29 March 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220329174135/https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27ruysch%27%29|url-status = dead}}</ref> He was painted by his son-in-law [[Jurriaen Pool]]. Frederik Ruysch published together with [[Herman Boerhaave]].

In 1760 (30 years after his death), botanist [[Jacq.]] published ''[[Ruyschia]]'', a genus of [[flowering plant]]s from South America, belonging to the family [[Marcgraviaceae]] and named in Frederik Ruysch's honor.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Ruyschia'' Jacq. {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30013822-2 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=20 May 2021 |language=en}}</ref>