Wendy Glass visits a new collection of paintings by this pioneering artist.
IN 17th-century Europe, pastimes for young girls from well-to-do families tended to be restricted to needlework, piano-playing and horse-riding. However, in 1660, thirteenyear-old Maria Merian from Germany had a very unusual hobby – breeding caterpillars.
“From an early age, Merian was fascinated by the process of metamorphosis that transforms caterpillars into butterflies,” Kate Heard, the curator of the exhibition of Maria Merian’s stunning paintings of the natural world which is currently on show at the Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, says.
“Merian’s stepfather was a highly respected artist who trained her to paint still-life watercolours and she used these skills to paint her caterpillars and the moths and butterflies they became.”
Maria Merian may have been unconventional in her interests but she followed the conventions of the time by marrying and raising a family – two daughters, Johanna and Dorothea. However, when her marriage broke down, Maria and her daughters moved to a religious community in the Netherlands and then, in 1691, to Amsterdam.
“Merian established her own artist’s studio in Amsterdam – and continued breeding and painting caterpillars, butterflies, moths and other flying insects,” Kate explains.
“Every day, ships would sail into Amsterdam, bringing with them exotic creatures from all over the world. Merian was fascinated by these huge butterflies, enormous insects and strange reptiles but she was frustrated because she wanted to observe and paint them alive – and in their natural habitat.”
In 1699, at the age of fifty-two, Maria Merian sold the contents of her home
and, accompanied by Dorothea, made the perilous crossing to the Dutch colony of Suriname in South America.
“Merian went deep into the rainforest, where she sketched the insects and plants she encountered and collected specimens so she could rear and study them,” Kate says.
Two years later, illness forced Maria Merian to return to Holland, where she published her findings in a luxurious book – “The Metamorphosis Of the Insects Of Suriname”, a bestseller which is still used by scientists, biologists and botanists today.
“As well as breaking convention time and time again, Merian was an extraordinary artist and a ground-breaking scientist,” Kate continues. “Maria Merian was an incredible woman.”