Curriculum Materials: Amazing Animals in
Art
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Maria Sibylla Merian Essays: Questions: |
Suggested Questions: Grades 4-6 - Teachers Key
- Describe what you see in this picture. What insects
are portrayed? What are they doing?
- The artist wanted to show the various stages of a
moth's development. They look very different at each
stage. Where is the egg stage? The caterpillar? The pupa
in the cocoon? The moth? Why would Merian include a plant
in this picture? Why are there holes in the leaves?
- What has Merian done to make her insects look so
real? (Depicts accurate detail; portrays lifelike
movement; gives a sense of
VOLUME by using
SHADING; places
insects on the plants with which they are
associated.) Is there anything unreal about this
image? (While her image is based on careful
observation, she also arranged the insects to best
display their various forms; she would not have seen all
four stages of the same insect at the same time.)
- The two moths in the
PRINT appear to be
the same insect. Why might Merian put the same moth in
her print twice? (To show its appearance with its
wings open and closed.)
- What kinds of
LINES do you see?
(Thin lines; lines for contour; curving lines.) In
many areas of the print, lines are repeated and form
PATTERNS. Where do
you see these lines? Where do you see pattern? (On the
moths' wings, the caterpillar, cocoon, bark, and
leaves.)
- Why do you think Merian went to Surinam in South
America to study insects? (Interest in the natural
sciences; wanted to study insects in their natural
habitat; she was an explorer in search of information
unknown to people in Europe.)
- Why would an artist choose to make a print rather
than a drawing?
- Merian had two specialties in her career. Do you know what they were? (She was an entomologist&emdash;a scientist who studied insects&emdash;and an artist.) Can you name ways in which she was adventurous and a pioneer?
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