Women's History Month: Maria Sibylla Merian

Few artists in history have distinguished themselves both as artists and scientists, but Maria Sibylla Merian holds that distinction. She is considered one of the most important scientists/entomologists (scientists who study insects) of the European Enlightenment period (late 1600s through 1700s), a movement that valued individualism, reason, and science over tradition.

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717, Germany), Convolvulus and Metamorphosis of the Convolvulus Hawk Moth, ca. 1670–1690. Watercolor and gouache over black chalk or charcoal on vellum (animal skin), 11 ⅜" x 14 ⅝" (29 x 37.2 cm). The Cleveland Museum of Art. Public domain image. (8S-30689)

By the time of her death in 1717, Merian had raised at least 300 species of insects and produced four books on her scientific work. In the 21st century, she would be termed an entomologist. From the 1400s through the 1800s, it was not unusual for a young woman trained in drawing, painting, and printmaking to evolve into a scientist. Both disciplines required careful observation.

Merian’s paintings were invaluable contributions to the scientific study of insects in the 1600s. She studied the lifecycles of many species, including moths. Using her training in miniature painting, Merian documented her studies in works such as Convolvulus and Metamorphosis of the Convolvulus Hawk Moth. The painting may actually depict the European pink-spotted hawkmoth (agrius cingulata), which has more intense pink on the abdomen. The lifecycle of the moth is depicted, along with one of its primary food sources, the nectar of morning glory flowers. Several other insects also appear in the detailed composition.

Plants, animals, and insects have been standard decorative motifs in many types of art throughout history. The earliest serious studies of plants came from the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians, and it was the Greek philosopher Theophrastus (ca. 370–285 BCE) who initiated a series of studies of the medicinal qualities of plants. In the first 100 years BCE, Greek physician Crateuas (111–64 BCE) is widely considered the first person to compile botanical illustrations.

The study of all plants and flowers evolved out of these compilations of images of medicinal plants. Until the Renaissance (ca. 1400–1600) in Western Europe, these illustrations, often rendered by scientists, were crude or naïve. With the Renaissance’s emphasis on naturalism in depicting the physical world in art, compilations of plant imagery became more sophisticated. The development of the printing press popularized these botanical compilations through printed books, or florilegia.

By the 1600s and 1700s, botanical art was a respected field, although it was not considered to be fine art. It was during this period, however, that many traditionally trained artists turned to precisely detailed paintings of plants, animals, and insects. This was a genre that was particularly popular in Northern Europe. Because women were excluded from academic training in the West until the late 1800s, many of them specialized in bird and flower paintings and still lifes because the subject did not require human anatomy lessons or extensive space, and the subject could be set up in the home.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, Merian belonged to a dynasty of successful print publishers. Along with the typical education for young women in reading and writing, Merian learned painting and printmaking alongside her brothers. As a woman, though, she was denied the opportunity to finish her artistic training by traveling abroad. She expanded her education in her backyard at thirteen when she began to collect and study insects. Fascinated by the change insects undergo over the course of their brief lives, Merian's first serious study was a collection of drawings and descriptions of the lifecycle of silkworms.

After marriage in 1665, Merian and her husband moved to his hometown of Nuremburg in 1670. There, her reputation as an artist spready quickly. She continued her artwork, studying the insects of Nuremburg. Her first book of flower and plant illustrations was published in 1675. Her first scientific book, The Wonderful Transformation and Singular Flower Food of Caterpillars, was published in 1679. Each illustration depicts the different stages of growth around the plant that was the subject's main food. Her book established Merian as an important voice in the growing field of entomology.

After divorce in 1685, Merian moved to Amsterdam, at the time a major center of learning. She quickly established a reputation there and supported her family by teaching and selling her art. She used her connections to import insect species from the Americas. By 1699, tired of working with dried insect samples, Merian sold all of her artwork to fund a trip to Surinam, a Dutch colony in South America. This was an unheard-of undertaking for a single woman. She took daily trips into the jungle to view insects firsthand. After two years in Surinam, she returned to Amsterdam to work on a book about her findings in South America. In 1705, The Metamorphosis of Insects of Surinam was published. Her book enabled European scientists to learn about an entirely different ecosystem. 

Correlations to Davis programs: Explorations in Art 2E Kindergarten: 2.1, 2.2, 2.3; Explorations in Art 2E Grade 1: 4.1, 4.3