Francisco Javier Matís
Francisco Javier Matís (1763 Guaduas – 5 November 1851 Bogotá) Francisco Javier Matiz, was a Colombian-born painter and botanical illustrator noted for his work during the Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada (1783–1814). He was the third child of Bartolomé Matís and Maria Luisa Mahecha. The exact date of his birth is unknown.

In 1781, aged 18, the young Matís traveled to Santa Fe de Bogotá and worked as a painter for the Urquinaona family, who had strong ties to the Expedition. 
He worked for the Expedition for twenty-seven years, from December 1783 until 1812 when it was officially terminated. He started as an apprentice under the painter Pablo Antonio García del Campo, later becoming an important botanical illustrator and an insightful anatomist, responsible for dissecting flowers and illustrating them with great skill.

The Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada, promoted and directed by José Celestino Mutis, was one of the grandest expeditions organized during the reign of Charles III of Spain. It took place during the same period as the expedition to Peru and northern Chile led by Hipólito Ruiz and José Pabón, with that of New Spain which was under the direction of Martín Sessé and José Moziño and with that of Sebastián Esteban Boldó which centered on the Huina River basin in eastern Cuba. Of these expeditions, the one in New Granada lasted longest, and had the most expedition members, entailing enormous running expenses. Part of these costs were the artists' wages and materials. Their work included the collection of plants and their depiction in botanical plates, although oil paintings of animals were also produced and portraits of indigenous people in their tribal dress. Collections and activities also included mineralogy, zoology and astronomy. Matis' work as an expedition artist lasted from 18 December 1783 until 1812 when the personnel structure was reorganised. From 31 May 1816 the artists who still remained were asked to work on plans and maps produced by Francisco José de Caldas (1768–1816) during his stay in Ecuador and charts created by the astronomer and naturalist Payanés during his stay in Antioquia. In June of that same year, Matís assisted in the packing of 104 crates of material collected in the course of the Expedition. These effects were sent to Spain on the instructions of Pablo Morillo, the general who had ordered the execution of de Caldas. Packing of the 104 crates was done within two months leaving little time to classify and index the collection. In an official statement made in 1817, Matís wrote that proper packing should have taken at least six months and that many plant specimens were discarded because of the haste.
Q685990
Guaduas
LOC
Q2841
Bogotá
LOC
Q96378272
Francisco Javier Matiz
PER
Q7373838
Royal Botanical Expedition to New Granada
UNK
Q2841
Santa Fe de Bogotá
LOC
None
Pablo Antonio García del Campo
UNK
Q731937
José Celestino Mutis
PER
Q36234
Charles III of Spain
PER
Q419
Peru
LOC
Q298
Chile
LOC
Q733976
Hipólito Ruiz
PER
Q2983613
Martín Sessé
PER
Q2983655
José Moziño
PER
None
Sebastián Esteban Boldó
UNK
None
Huina River
UNK
Q1442069
Francisco José de Caldas
PER
Q736
Ecuador
LOC
None
Payanés
UNK
Q123304
Antioquia
LOC
Q1364163
Pablo Morillo
PER
Q96378272
Francisco Javier Matís
PER
1851-11-05T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
5 November 1851
DATE
1781-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1781
DATE
1783-12-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
December 1783
DATE
1812-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1812
DATE
1783-12-18T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
18 December 1783
DATE
1812-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1812
DATE
1816-05-31T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
31 May 1816
DATE
1817-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1817
DATE
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1763
NUMBER
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1783
NUMBER
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1814
NUMBER
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18
NUMBER
+1768^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1768
NUMBER
+1816^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
1816
NUMBER
diplomatic relation