Maria Sibylla Merian

Uncommon card · No. 173174

Maria Sibylla Merian (2 April 1647 – 13 January 1717) was a German-Dutch entomologist, naturalist, and scientific illustrator. She was one of the earliest European naturalists to document observations about insects directly; her work established that insects have a life cycle and do not appear by spontaneous generation. Merian was a descendant of the Frankfurt branch of the Swiss Merian family. Merian received her artistic training from her stepfather, Jacob Marrel, a student of the still life painter Georg Flegel. Merian published her first book of natural illustrations in 1675. She had started to collect insects as an adolescent. At age 13, she raised silkworms. In 1679, Merian published the first volume of a two-volume series on caterpillars; the second volume followed in 1683. Each volume contained 50 plates that she engraved and etched. Merian documented evidence on the process of metamorphosis and the plant hosts of 186 European insect species. Along with the illustrations Merian...

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