Anselmus Boetius de Boodt

Anselmus Boetius de Boodt (1550–1632) was a Renaissance humanist naturalist and gemologist from the County of Flanders in the Habsburg Netherlands. He was appointed court and personal physician to Emperor Rudolf II. Together with the mineralogist Georgius Agricola, De Boodt is considered a founding figure of modern gemology. De Boodt was an avid collector of gems and minerals who travelled widely to various mining regions in the Low Countries, Germany, Bohemia and Silesia to collect samples. His definitive work on the subject was the Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia.

De Boodt was a draughtsman who made many natural history illustrations and developed a natural history taxonomy.

Life De Boodt was born in Bruges in 1550, to an aristocratic family originating in 13th-century Dordrecht. His father, Anselmus de Boodt (1519-1587), was a renowned broker who also provided overseas insurance coverage.

Education De Boodt studied the Liberal Arts at the University of Louvain from 1567. In 1573 he was at the University of Douai, and on 28 November 1575 he graduated licentiate of canon and civil law at the University of Orléans. and visiting Venice, Rome, Florence, Milan and Bologna. but after only a few months had to flee the city when rebel forces in the Dutch Revolt seized power.

In January 1604, De Boodt, was appointed advisor and personal physician to the emperor, with a stipend of 40 florins. Aegidius Sadeler's portrait of him gives his title as Rodolphi II Roman. Imperatoris cubicularius medicus (medic to the bedchamber of Roman Emperor Rudolf II). He retained this title and this function until Rudolf's death, as evidenced by all the title pages of his works.

He compiled the first herbal book in Bruges with sixty plates, published posthumously by his young friend Olivier de Wree in 1640 under the title Anselmi Boëtii de Boot I.C. Brugensis & Rodolphi II. imp. Roman. medici a cubiculis florum, herbarum, ac fructuum selectiorum icones, & vires pleraeq. hactenus ignotae.

De Boodt died in Bruges on 21 June 1632.

Natural history studies De Boodt also made many watercolours of native and exotic animals and plants. He filled twelve volumes with 728 illustrations of quadrupeds, reptiles, birds, fish, insects and plants. His aim was to depict all the creatures of the natural world just as his compatriot Joris Hoefnagel had earlier done in his series of the Four Elements.

He developed a taxonomy and standardisation, which he added in many languages to his drawings. These drawings predate the Academy of the Lynxes around Galileo Galilei for which usually primacy of such material is claimed. De Boodt made most of the drawings himself but also engaged the services of other artists such as Elias Verhulst from Mechelen. This Historia Naturalis remained in the hands of his heirs until 1844 and was partially published in 1989 as De Albums van Anselmus De Boodt, edited by M.C. Maselis, A. Balis, and R. Marynissen (Tielt, Lannoo, 1999).

Gemological studies

De Boodt's principal assignment was the study and cataloguing of all known gems, rocks and minerals. He summarized his work in the Gemmarum et Lapidum Historia (The History of Gems and Stones), the finest treatise and encyclopedia of gemology for this time. The book contains important contributions to the theory of colour.

Select bibliography Gemmarum et lapidum historia : qua non solum ortus, natura, vis & precium, sed etiam modus quo ex iis olea, salia, tincturae, essentiae, arcana & magisteria arte chymica confici possint, ostenditur : opvs principibvs, medicis, chymicis, physicis, ac liberalioribus ingeniis vtilissimum : cum variis figuris, indiceq. duplici & copioso, Anselmus Boetius de Boot, Hanoviae, Typ. Wechelianis apud C. Marnium et heredes J. Aubrii, 1609 Le Parfaict joaillier ou l'histoire des pierreries sont amplement descrites, Ans. Boece de Boot, Lyon, Huguetan, 1644 Gemmarum et lapidum historia : quam olim edidit Anselmus Boetius de Boot ... / Postea Adrianus Tollius ... recensuit; figuris melioribus, & commentariis pluribus illustravit, & indice auxit multo locupletiore, de Boodt Anselmus Boëtius 1550–1632. -- Tollius Adrianus, 17th century, ed. -- De Laet Joannes 1581-1649—Theophrastus 372-287 BC, Lugduni Batavorum, ex officina Ioannis Maire, 1647. Florum, herbarum, ac fructuum selectiorum icones, & vires pleraeq. hactenus ignotae, 1640 Symbola Diuina & Humana Pontificvm Imperatorvm Regvm. Accessit breuis, & facilis Isagoge Iac. Typotii. Ex Mvsaeo Octavii De Strada. 3. Symbola Varia Diversorvm Principvm. Cvm Facili Isagoge D. Anselmi De Boodt Brvgensis Sac. Caes. Malavlae Medici, Francofvrti: Schönwetter; 1652