Maria Sibyllia Merian was an illustrator and entomologist (1647-1717). At a time when education was scant for women, she learnt miniature painting from her step father. She used this skill to depict her observations on insect metamorphosis across a variety of specimens. Her work contributed to the shift in belief from theory of spontaneous generation prevalent at the time. She travelled to the forests of Surinam where she spent six years studying insects and plants. She worked at a time, when illustrations were the only ‘photographs’ available. For financial support, she sold her work as art and published books. Linneaus later used her work to classify insects. Here are recreation of four of her plates.
Bentonein rose
Chocolate pod
Lime tree with insect metamorphosis
Insect metamorphosis
While Maria used copperplate etching for her illustrations, here Adobe illustrator software has been used to revisit those.
About the illustrator: Ipsa is pursuing a Ph.D. at Indian Institute of Science. She loves to draw and paint. Biologist by training. Wants to gather and spread interestingness.
This work by ClubSciWri is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
