MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN
THE WONDERFUL METAMORPHOSIS AND PECULIAR FLOWER FOOD OF CATERPILLARS, 1679
THE AUTHOR IS PRESENT
“The wonderful metamorphosis and peculiar flower food of caterpillars” is Maria Sibylla Merian’s first scientific work. It is published in 1679 in a small edition and on plain paper through the publisher run by her husband Johann Andreas Graff. Only very few copies have survived to this day.
The work comprises 102 pages with fifty etchings, which Merian numbers, describes and names after the plants that are illustrated. The present copy was coloured by Merian herself. With precise brushstrokes she captures the finest hues from the whole range of colours available to her at the time.
The texts and images are based on observations which Merian had recorded in her journals since early childhood. The objects of her research are plants and insects from the surroundings of Frankfurt and Nuremberg. The texts describe the mode of life of the caterpillars and their metamorphosis. The images also illustrate the developmental stages of the insects around the host plant. In no other work is Maria Sibylla Merian so intensely present as a scientist and artist, as every step of her work – from the first notes to the book coloured in her own hand – bears her very personal touch.