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Lot Essay
Carl Linnaeus was the Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature for flowers, animals and minerals. He is commonly known as the 'father of modern taxonomy' and is credited with being one of the fathers of ecology.
Linnaeus was born on 13th May 1707 in the Swedish province of Smaland. His father was a cleric and had intended for Carl to enter the clergy, however, sensing his son's lack of interest in this field allowed him to pursue an academic career at Lund University. After an unsuccessful year in Lund, Linnaeus moved to Uppsala where he endured great financial hardship until, in 1729, he met the renowned scientist Olof Celsius. Celsius was impressed with Linnaeus' knowledge and botanical collections and offered him board and lodging. In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Uppsala financed Linnaeus's expedition to Lapland, in the northernmost part of Sweden, which resulted in him producing the Florula Lapponica and later the Flora Lapponica published in 1737.
Linnaeus travelled extensively throughout many of Europe's academic centres meeting academics and publishing his findings. He eventually returned to Sweden in 1738, married his wife in 1739 and in the same year became co-founder of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He spent much of the rest of his life travelling around Sweden classifying plants, and extending his classification to the kingdom of animals and to minerals. King Adolf Fredrik ennobled Linnaeus in 1757 whereupon he took the surname von Linné. He died on 10th January 1778 in the town of Svartbàcksgatan, and was shortly after buried in Uppsala Cathedral on 22nd January. He was honoured with a porphyry tomb incorporating a bronze medallion of his face in profile, virtually identical to the relief offered here, by the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergell. Although the present bronze postdates Sergell's original commission by sixteen years, no other examples seem to exist apart from one plaster version housed in the National Museum, Stockholm.
Linnaeus was born on 13th May 1707 in the Swedish province of Smaland. His father was a cleric and had intended for Carl to enter the clergy, however, sensing his son's lack of interest in this field allowed him to pursue an academic career at Lund University. After an unsuccessful year in Lund, Linnaeus moved to Uppsala where he endured great financial hardship until, in 1729, he met the renowned scientist Olof Celsius. Celsius was impressed with Linnaeus' knowledge and botanical collections and offered him board and lodging. In 1732 the Academy of Sciences at Uppsala financed Linnaeus's expedition to Lapland, in the northernmost part of Sweden, which resulted in him producing the Florula Lapponica and later the Flora Lapponica published in 1737.
Linnaeus travelled extensively throughout many of Europe's academic centres meeting academics and publishing his findings. He eventually returned to Sweden in 1738, married his wife in 1739 and in the same year became co-founder of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He spent much of the rest of his life travelling around Sweden classifying plants, and extending his classification to the kingdom of animals and to minerals. King Adolf Fredrik ennobled Linnaeus in 1757 whereupon he took the surname von Linné. He died on 10th January 1778 in the town of Svartbàcksgatan, and was shortly after buried in Uppsala Cathedral on 22nd January. He was honoured with a porphyry tomb incorporating a bronze medallion of his face in profile, virtually identical to the relief offered here, by the Swedish sculptor Johan Tobias Sergell. Although the present bronze postdates Sergell's original commission by sixteen years, no other examples seem to exist apart from one plaster version housed in the National Museum, Stockholm.