Johannes Goedaert (1617–1668)

• Also spelled Goetaart, Goedhart, Goedaard or Jean Goedart.
• Was a Dutch naturalist, entomologist and painter.
• Goedaert was born in Middelburg.
• His mother was Judith Pottier and his father Pieter Goedaert died when he was eight years old.
• At the age of 18 he became a member of the Saint Lucas Guild for painters.
• He was a contemporary of such painters as Adriaen van de Venne, Francois Ryckhals, Mattheus Molanus and Christoffel van den Berghe.
• Goedaert published, in his birthplace, a book entitled Metamorphosis Naturalis between 1660 and 1669, which was translated into French in 1668-1669 as Histoire Naturelle des Insectes.
• The book shows meticulous observations of the growth phases of insects, including metamorphosis.
• Throughout his life he collected, raised and studied insect larvae and maggots.
• He not only described the process of their development but also painted and drew the various stages the insects passed through during their life cycle.
• He was also the first person to give Dutch names to many types of insects found in and around Middelburg.
• He stimulated interest in insects and generated further research in this field through the text and the detailed illustrations in his books.
• Some landscape and still-life paintings made by Goedaert have also survived.
• Goedaert married Clara de Bock, the daughter of a jeweller, around 1643.
• They had three boys and one girl.
• Goedaert died in January 1668 after an active life and was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in his home town of Middelburg.
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