Rijksmuseum Boerhaave - Herman Boerhaave

Europe’s physician

Rijksmuseum Boerhaave, Leiden (NL), 2018

Herman Boerhaave asked an important question: Can you prove it? Walking through eighteenth century Leiden, visitors discover the medical professor’s influence.

Fake news

Fake news about health and science is nothing new. It was around back in the seventeenth century. The medical professor Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738) fought against disinformation by asking a crucial question: Can you prove it? It may seem obvious now, but in his day it was revolutionary.

350th birthday

The Rijksmuseum Boerhaave staged the exhibition ‘Herman Boerhaave and the Golden Age of Science’ in honour of the professor’s 350th birthday. Visitors walk through Leiden’s Golden Age scientific landscape via large graphic panels showing the botanical garden, the lecture theatre, the laboratory, the infirmary, the library and Oud-Poelgeest, Boerhaave’s country house. His character and career are brought into focus through stories of his contemporaries, and more than 100 extraordinary objects are on show. A film features five people giving eulogies to Boerhaave and shows various locations that played key roles in his life and career.

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“Here, in the national museum for the history of science and medicine, Boerhaave earned his place among the greatest scientists the Netherlands has ever known.”

Amito Haarhuis, director Rijksmuseum Boerhaave — 29 November 2018

Credits

Client
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave

Content Design
Studio Louter

Spatial Design
OPERA Amsterdam

Graphic Design
Studio Louter

Film Production
Gado Gado Filmproducties

Light Design
Peter Romkema Lichtontwerp

Construction
Rijksmuseum Boerhaave

Graphic Production
Verver Reclame