Maria Sibylla Merian

Who was Maria Sibylla Merian?

Maria Sibylla Merian was a German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator, a descendent of the Frankfurt branch of the Swiss Merian family, founders of one of Europe's largest publishing houses in the 17th century.

Merian received her artistic training from her stepfather, Jacob Marrel, a student of the still life painter Georg Flegel. She remained in Frankfurt until 1670, relocating subsequently to Nuremberg, Wieuwerd, where she stayed in a Labadist community till 1691, and Amsterdam.

Merian published her first book of natural illustrations, titled Neues Blumenbuch, in 1675 at age 28. In 1699, following eight years of painting and studying, and on the encouragement of Cornelis van Aerssen van Sommelsdijck, the then-governor of the Dutch colony of Surinam, Merian was awarded a grant by the city of Amsterdam to travel to South America with her daughter Dorothea. After two years there, she was forced return to Europe as result of malaria. She then proceeded to publish her major work, Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, in 1705, for which she became famous.