Curriculum Materials: Amazing Animals in
Art
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Maria Sibylla Merian Essays: Questions: |
Background
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the natural sciences
underwent rapid growth in Europe, and the systematic
classification of plants was developed. Important to this
period of growth were the European voyages of exploration to
distant lands such as the Americas, the Near and Far East,
and Africa, which resulted in a tremendous increase in
BOTANICAL and
zoological knowledge. Travelers returned to Europe with
drawings and written descriptions as well as new seeds and
plants to be studied and classified. The microscope, which
was invented in Holland in the late 16th century, was a boon
to the study of plants and animals, transforming the
sciences of botany and zoology.
In the early 17th century, the Dutch emerged as Europe's
leading horticulturalists. Their passion for gardening and
the cultivation of exotic flowers spurred the development of
flower painting as an art form as well as botanical
illustration of all kinds, including catalogues of flower
species.
Although she was primarily an entomologist (one who studies
insects), Merian is also recognized as one of the finest
botanical artists of the period. Her work was influenced by
the great Netherlandish flower painters of the 17th century.
She carefully studied living examples of butterflies and
moths, recording their appearance and activities at various
stages in their life cycles. Her remarkable illustrations
from these studies appeared in various publications. In
these publications, Merian represented the results of her
research on a single page, arranging the insects on or near
the plants with which they were associated. While her
methods seem logical to us today, they were at the time, as
she declared on her title page, "a completely new
discovery." The contemporary practice of studying insects
relied only on preserved specimens in collectors'
cabinets.
Working at a time when the natural sciences were in their
early development, Merian contributed to the knowledge of
her era. She helped to revolutionize the sciences of zoology
and botany and to lay the foundations for the classification
of plant and animal species.
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