Kunstvriendschaplyk Gedenk-boek

Johannes le Francq van Berkhey (1729-1812) was a painter and poet from Leiden who also had a tremendous interest in scientific research. He went on to study medicine and published his magnum opus between 1769 and 1811: Natuurlyke Historie van Holland, a monumental work in several volumes on the flora, fauna, and geology of Holland, but also on the Dutch population, the landscape, agriculture, and livestock farming.

In 1758, he began compiling a book of friendship, which he called an ‘Kunstvriendschaplyk Gedenk-boek’ (Artistic Commemorative Book). In total, Berkhey collected more than 362 contributions from friends and acquaintances in three thick volumes, including 325 drawings, engravings, and cut-outs. It is striking that Berkhey provided many of the contributions with his own written commentary.

The albums can be regarded as the personal art collection of Berkhey, who moved in very diverse circles as a poet, painter, and natural scientist. In addition to landscapes, everyday scenes, and allegorical representations of virtue and self-knowledge, one also finds many contributions with nature as the subject. Many people from his network, such as the gardener Willem van Hazen or the botanist Georg Ehret, provided beautiful illustrations of plants.

Two contributions made from real animals are very special: a whale, cut from a real piece of whale skin and applied by an unknown sailor, and a little bird made of real feathers, a beak, and a leg.

Catalogue description

Album amicorum of Johannes le Francq van Berkhey. Leiden/Warmond, 1758-1798. Shelfmark: KW 132 F 13 (three volumes)