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Over 3,000 historic giclee prints, 16 artists and 40 complete sets
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Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was born in Frankfurt. She came from a family of artists, scholars and booksellers.
Merian learned engraving from her father, stepfather and stepbrothers. She is best known for her illustrations of plants and insects from Suriname.
As a child Merian was already interested in insects. With a lot of patience she raised caterpillars into butterflies. She studied the process and recorded the metamorphosis in words and images.
In 1665 Merian married Johann Andreas Graf, who was a painter. She and her husband documented the observations in two books about caterpillars. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last, and in 1685 Merian moved to the Netherlands with her two daughters.
Butterflies continued to fascinate her. After 14 years in the Netherlands, she decided to travel to Suriname to study the flora and fauna of Suriname.
She took her youngest daughter with her and both women painted beautiful watercolors of plants and insects. For two years Merian traveled along the Suriname River and undertook treks in the jungle, along the banks of rivers and through swamps and steppes in order to do as much research as possible on the native insects. Unfortunately, she became ill and had to return to Europe.
Back in the Netherlands Merian elaborates her drawings and notes.
All of Merian’s drawings were transferred to copper engravings. Then she colored the prints by hand. Merian used a special technique, the counter pressure. Lines became softer and the result was almost indistinguishable from an original watercolor.
Merian always depicted the caterpillar and the accompanying butterfly, along with the plant they thrived on. But in the metamorphosis Merian made quite a few mistakes, which meant that the right butterfly was not always placed with the right caterpillar on the right plant.
Merian’s acclaimed publication ‘Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium’ was first published by Merian herself in 1705. It was originally available in a Latin or a Dutch version, with colored and uncolored copies.
The foreword to the book was written by Merian and is addressed to the reader, giving information about her ideas and the creation of the book.
Merian’s illustrations from Suriname show colorful butterflies, caterpillars and ants, as well as exotic fruits and vegetables.
After Merian’s death, her daughter Dorothea sold her mother’s volumes and plates to the Amsterdam publisher Joannes Oosterwijk. He republished the work in 1719 with several new plates, including some based on information from the Dutch zoologist Albertus Seba.
Taken from the original copies held in the libraries of Teylers Museum in the Netherlands, our collection is a recreation of the second edition of ‘Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium’ and therefore contains all 72 prints, taken from the hand-coloured originals.
Over 3,000 historic giclee prints, 16 artists and 40 complete sets
We are more than happy to help. Just send us a message, and we will be in touch
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