Gerardus van Spaendonck

Spaendonck began studying in Antwerp. After a stay in Breda, he went to Paris in 1770, where he became a painter in the “Jardin des Plantes” and was appointed “Peintre du Roi” (royal court painter) in 1774. In 1775 he went to the Royal Academy; became a member in 1781 and was appointed consultant in 1788. In 1793, he was appointed to the post of administrator and professor at the Museum of Natural History in Paris.