Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium
by Maria Sibylla Merian.
Published in Amsterdam 1705

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was one of the foremost natural historians and artists of the 17th century.

She was born in Frankfurt, Germany into a family of artists, engravers and publishers. Although she came from the tradition of flower painting, at an early age she became interested in the metamorphosis of butterflies and insects and the plants on which they live.

She taught painting and drawing and published her own work.

In 1699 at the age of 52 she embarked on an expedition to Suriname (Dutch Guiana) in South America, where she documented her special interest of flora and fauna that lived in the jungle habitat of Suriname.

Two years later in 1701 she returned to Europe and began work on her illustrious book Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. Towards the time of her death in 1717, many of her watercolours were purchased by Czar Peter the Great of Russia. The 95 watercolours by Merian in the Royal Collection were bought by King George III, then Prince of Wales, in 1755.