D-Texte

GEORG THOMAS VON ASCH (1729–1807), Doctor and city-appointed Physician in St. Petersburg, Kyrill Ivanovic Golovacevskij, 1780, oil on canvas, Art collection of the University of Göttingen

MEDAL OF THE GENERAL FIELD MARSHAL Petr Aleksandrovič Rumjancev, Johann Georg Jaeger, 1774, copper, Coin cabinet, University of Göttingen

CHRISTIAN WILHELM BÜTTNER (1716–1801), Professor of Natural Science (Natural History, Anthropology, Ethnology), Conrad Westermayr (?) or Johann Heinrich Tischbein the Elder (workshop) (?), 1781, oil on canvas, Art collection of the University of Göttingen

WOODWARD’S HEADSTAND Büttner was a passionate collector of books. Many of his colleagues would borrow books from his library – the slip enclosed in two volumes is a library ticket belonging to the anatomist and natural scientist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752-1840). While all volumes have been neatly arranged, the book by the natural scientist John

THE OIL BEETLE The beetle at the bottom of the painting is an oil beetle. The secretion it secretes to protect itself from its predators was used in early modern pharmacies as both an aphrodisiac and as a treatment for rabies. The beetle indicates Büttner’s earlier occupation as a pharmacist. Its position in the painting,

THE SCALES Büttner considered his collection a foundation for his scientific work. He wanted to set himself apart from traditional chambers of art and curiosities, which primarily served the purpose of representation at European princely courts. The scales, and also the other instruments in the picture such as the ruler, filter and compass serve to

The plum placed on the desk is an allusion to Büttner’s publishing activities, which he continued into his later years. The attached note bears the inscription: 65 anorum arboris, “in the sixty-fifth year of the tree”. From 1771, when Büttner himself was 65 years old, his two-volume work: “Vergleichungstafeln der Schriftarten verschiedener Völker in den