Maria Sibylla
Merian (1647
- 1717)
Naturalist
and scientific
illustrator
from Frankfurt
on Main, daughter
of the famous
copper engraver
and publisher
Matthäus Merian
(1583-1650).
She lived in
Frankfurt (until
1670) and Nuremberg
(until 1681),
in Frankfurt
again (until
1685), a few
years at the
castle Waltha
nearby Wieuwerd
in the Netherlands
and in Amsterdam
from 1691. In
June 1699 she
travelled along
with her younger
daughter Dorothea
Maria to Surinam
in South America.
She worked in
Surinam for
two years, travelling
around the colony
and sketching
local animals
and plants.
In September
1701 they came
back to Amsterdam.
1675-1680
her first book,
the „Neue Blumenbuch“,
with three collections
of engravings
of plants was
published. In
1679 and 1683
her book in
two parts about
caterpillars
„Der Raupen
wunderbare Verwandlung
und sonderbare
Blumennahrung“
(The Caterpillar,
Marvelous Transformation
and Strange
Floral Food),
was published.
It includes
her long-time
investigations
about insects.
She studied
what actually
happened in
the transformation
of caterpillars
into beautiful
butterflies.
She took note
of the transformations,
along with the
details of the
chrysalises
and plants that
they used to
feed themselves,
and illustrated
all the stages
of their development.
In 1705 a
Dutch and Latin
edition of her
famous book
"Metamorphosis
insectorum Surinamensium"
was published
with 60 copper
engravings.
For this wonderful
book she created
plates with
tropical plants
together with
the insects
belonging to,
compiled from
the drawings
she made in
Surinam. This
work of the
metamorphosis
of the butterfly
made her a significant
contributor
to entomology.
Maria Sibylla
Merian was one
of the first
reseachers who
investigated
insects systematically
and found out
much details
about the evolution
and lifecycle
of the insects
she observed.
Her works of
art were accepted
by the public
even during
her lifetime.
Her classification
of butterflies
and moths is
still relevant
today.
After her
death the Amsterdam
publisher Jean
Frédéric Bernard
got her copper
plates and published
her works of
art once again
in 1730.
Please,
click on a picture
for more information.
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