Self-portrait of Petrus Camper

Petrus Camper was an internationally renowned physician with a profound interest in the theory and practice of art. He published on a broad range of subjects, including orangutans, inguinal hernias, megaliths, the cattle plague and the croaking of frogs. After holding a professorship at Franeker (in Friesland), he settled in Amsterdam, where he became a patron of the Drawing Academy and lectured at the Felix Meritis Society.