Anton Goering

Christian Anton Goering (18 September 1836, Thonhausen - 7 December 1905, Leipzig) was a German naturalist, painter and graphic artist who spent several years in Venezuela.

He learned taxidermy from his father, who was a member of several ornithological societies. It was at a meeting of one of these societies that he met Christian Ludwig Brehm who helped him obtain a position at the Ornithological Museum of the University of Halle, where he worked under the direction of Hermann Burmeister. From 1856 to 1858, they travelled in South America and he decided to pursue his interests in natural history. He also went to London, where he took lessons from the zoological artist Joseph Wolf. While he was there, the Secretary of the Zoological Society, Philip Sclater, asked him to go to Venezuela to collect specimens for the British Museum.

In 1866, he arrived in Venezuela at the port of Carúpano, where he began collecting. During May and June 1867, he visited the town of Caripe and explored the Cueva del Guácharo, collecting specimens of the elusive oilbird. After that, he spent some time in central Venezuela, collecting zoological specimens and Pre-Columbian artifacts.

Following extensive travels that included a visit to Curaçao, he came to a stop in Mérida in 1869, where he discovered a natural bridge over a local stream. This prompted him to create a series of watercolors depicting the landscapes and folk customs in the surrounding area.

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