White Peacock Butterfly

Maria Merian was also fascinated by reptiles and while working on “Metamorphosis”, she was planning her follow-up – a book about the reptiles of Suriname. To help promote this book, Maria added a young Golden Tegu lizard, an aggressive reptile native to Suriname, to this painting.

However, her time in Suriname had taken its toll on Maria’s health. The much-anticipated second volume was never published and on January 13, 1717, newspapers in Holland reported that, “the great naturalist and artist Maria Merian” had died.