Praelector

Ruysch, who became praelector of anatomy in Amsterdam, went on to develop this injection technique into the most extraordinary displays, some of which caught the eye of Peter the Great on his visit to the Netherlands.

Annual lectures on anatomy were given by the praelectors of the Surgeon’s Guilds in Amsterdam, Leiden, and Delft, and their position was commemorated in official portraits of these lectures.

The fact that Herbert was chosen first as a praelector in Rhetoric in 1618, then as University Orator in 1620, suggests that he was seen as an exemplary student, a talented mouthpiece for the University on official occasions.