Maria Sibylla Merian
Picture provided by www.teylersmuseum.eu
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Frankfurt, Germany on April 2, 1647. Her father, Matthaus Merian, taught Maria various printing techniques during her youth. She was later introduced to flower painting by her stepfather, Jacob Marell, a still-life artist. Due to these influences as well as other still-life artists of the time, she developed an interest in artistically portraying flowers and foliage, as well as, butterflies and caterpillars. Through out her life Maria lived in Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Waltha State, Amsterdam, and Suriname.
As she moved around she worked on her paintings and prints which she published in various books. These books include Neues Blumenbuch, which was published in three volumes between 1675-1680 in Nuremberg, Der Raupen Wunderbare Verwandelung, which was published in Nuremberg in 1679, as well as, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, which was published in 1705. Due to these books she was a very well known and respected entomologist, as well as, one of the first botanical artists.
Her interest in butterflies and caterpillars led her to venture from Amsterdam in 1699 to Suriname, which is located in the northern portion of South America. For two years she studied insects in their natural Suriname environment. Maria not only painted the insects in each stage of their lives, but recorded their eating habits and activities. She also collected samples of the different insects to bring home with her. Her interest in entomology and fascination with the metamorphosis of the insects in Suriname led her to create over one hundred watercolor paintings during her stay. Sixty of those paintings made it in to Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium when she returned to Amsterdam. One of those was Moths, Caterpillar, and Foliage, which portrays the metamorphosis of the White Witch Moth. Maria Sibylla Merian's paintings, prints, and books were readily collected during and after her life. Maria died on January 13, 1717, just shy of seventy years old.