Maria Sibylla Merian : “Grapevine with Gaudy Sphinx Moth” (1705)

Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, or Insects of Surinam, was landmark work by the scientific illustrator and naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. Merian grew up under the artistic influence of her stepfather, the German still life painter Jacob Marrel, and his pupil, Abraham Mignon. Both were significant figures in the golden age of flower painting who, like their contemporaries, frequently populated their still lifes with insects and spiders — but for Merian these small flourishes took on greater significance; their strange metamorphoses unlocked new worlds. She recalled of her youth that:

“I spent my time investigating insects. At the beginning, I started with silk worms in my home town of Frankfurt. I realized that other caterpillars produced beautiful butterflies and moths, and that silkworms did the same. This led me to collect all of the caterpillars I could find in order to see how they changed.”

Merian published her first book of natural history illustrations at the age of 28 and, fascinated by the “beautiful animals” she had observed in Dutch collections, undertook an expedition to the South American colony of Surinam, where she documented the life cycles of some 186 insect species; their habitats, habits and uses to indigenous people. In an era when it widely imagined that insects were “born of mud” by spontaneous generation, her direct observations altered Europe’s basic understanding of the insect kingdom and lit the path to modern entomology. More recently, her work having entered a period of rediscovery, she has been honored on currency, postage stamps, and in a 2013 Google Doodle.