Maria Sibylla Merian
Looking ahead to SPRING 🌼 on the winter solstice, I drew this 17th century illustration from one of Maria Sibylla Merian’s New Flower books. A perceptive observer of nature since childhood, Merian discovered several new species of insects and plants as part of her work. She wrote, engraved, and published many of her own volumes, and was one of the first illustrators to show the lifecycle of insects in their ecological context. Divorced and going against societal expectations, Merian traveled to Surinam in 1699 to observe and cultivate specimens. Her work is celebrated for its scientific and artistic value, and she influenced both the field of entomology and naturalist illustration.
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Illustration inspired by: Merian, Maria Sibylla. Plate CLIX (Daffodils). https://library.artstor.org/asset/24767450.