Maria Sibylla Merian (German, 1647鈥1717)
鈥淎merican Castor Oil Plant鈥 Pl. 38, 鈥淭abrouba鈥 Pl. 48, 鈥淔emale Toad and Young with
Watercress鈥 Pl. 59, 鈥淧apaya鈥 Pl. 64, from Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname
(Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium), 1705
Hand-colored engraving
Gift of John C. Copoulos '73 (2024.9.4) and museum purchase with funds donated by
Lucie G. Nelson '77 PhD (2025.23.1-3)
Maria Sibylla Merian was an artist and naturalist active in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. In a time when women were excluded from many of the traditional structures of science, she would make a lasting contribution to the field we now call entomology. She was born into a family of artists and was likely encouraged to take up art by her stepfather, the still life painter Jacob Morrel. From an early age she was a keen observer of nature and made close drawings of what she observed.
Though she authored many works on flora and fauna, in particular insects, she is most famous for her book Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (Metamorphosis of the Insects of Suriname). First published in 1705, the monumental volume describes insects and other species Merian observed during her two years in the Dutch colony of Suriname. There she undertook a rigorous study of native wildlife, describing and illustrating their characteristics, many of which were unknown to European audiences. In her book she also mentions the condition of the colony鈥檚 enslaved populations, upon whom she relied for indigenous knowledge of plants and animals.
These four images, all from Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, wonderfully
demonstrate several features of Merian鈥檚 work. They all show Merian鈥檚 close eye for
detail, and several depict insects in every stage of their life cycle: egg, larva,
pupa, and adult. In her images, she frequently placed insect species on plants they
ate or grew on (though her critics would comment that she sometimes took liberties
with these pairings for artistic ends). The image of the Pipa pipa, or Surinam Toad,
is one of her most interesting. During her time in Suriname, she observed the peculiar
reproductive cycle of the toad. The eggs are embedded on the female鈥檚 back, where
they develop into tadpoles, then hatch as small frogs from the female鈥檚 outer layer
of skin. European scientists were skeptical of this phenomenon, but ultimately Merian鈥檚
observations were confirmed to be accurate.
鈥撯 Katherine Reinhart, Assistant Professor of Art History
Watch Baby Toads Born from Mom's Back from National Geographic Animal's YouTube page, by clicking .