Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5

Maria Sibylla Merian
27. Metallic beetle, Lunar-headed dung-beetle, Capricorn beetle, Harlequin beet

1974

$420
£313.67
€363.97
CA$581.70
A$652.08
CHF 340.05
MX$7,992.96
NOK 4,308.97
SEK 4,096.67
DKK 2,715.70
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collected, cultivated, and drew them as a child. She began to publish hand-etched and printed catalogues of illustrations in 1679, and became a reliable source for new entomological and botanical documentation. Her work was even cited by Carl Linnaeus. After her death in Amsterdam in 1717, Peter the Great acquired numerous original watercolors of Merian’s, many of which he’d seen during a visit with the artist in the final years of her life. These pieces from his collection, still housed in St. Petersburg, were later termed the Leningrad Watercolors, and 50 of them were beautifully reproduced in 1974.
  • Creator:
    Maria Sibylla Merian (1647 - 1717, Dutch)
  • Creation Year:
    1974
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 17.75 in (45.09 cm)Width: 13.75 in (34.93 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    UnknownPrice: $420
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Columbia, MO
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1976213690822

More From This Seller

View All
32. Shorthorned grasshopper, Dung beetle, Water scavenger beetle, Longhorned bee
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Columbia, MO
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...
Category

18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Pigment

28. Saltatoria Mantis
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Columbia, MO
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...
Category

18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Pigment

29. Arctian, Castnia, Steirodon thoracicm
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Columbia, MO
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...
Category

18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Pigment

42. Martagon lily, Frog-hopper, Acronicta leporina, Looper, inchworm
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Columbia, MO
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...
Category

18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Pigment

45. Hairy cotton, Helicopis cupido
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Columbia, MO
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...
Category

18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Pigment

17. True tulip, Triton's trumpet, Hermit crab
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Columbia, MO
Maria Sibylla Merian was born in Germany in 1647 and received early artistic training from her stepfather, an established still life painter. She was fascinated by insects and collec...
Category

18th Century Realist Prints and Multiples

Materials

Pigment

You May Also Like

Stag Beetles and Rhinoceros Beetles, 1798 Hand-Colored Copperplate Engraving
Located in Langweer, NL
Title: Stag Beetles and Rhinoceros Beetles, 1798 Hand-Colored Copperplate Engraving Description: This hand-colored copperplate engraving from Friedrich Johann Bertuch's "Bilderbuch ...
Category

Antique 1790s Prints

Materials

Paper

4 plates from The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars & their Strange Diet..
By Maria Sibylla Merian
Located in Middletown, NY
Four plates from The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers. “Wolfsmelk Rupsen;" “Wolfsmilch, Raupe und Schmetterling" Amsterdam: JF Bernard, 1730. Each an engraving with hand coloring in watercolor and gouache printed on one sheet of watermarked Honig cream laid paper, each measures 6 1/4 x 5 inches (157 x 121 mm), sheet measures 20 5/8 x 14 inches (522 x 355 mm), full margins. With handling creases in the lower right sheet quadrant, as well as minor, loose cockling, otherwise in very good condition. The colors are superb with exceptionally fresh and bright saturation. Engraved between 1679 and 1683, printed 1730. Plates included: CXLI, CXLII, CXIII & CXLIV. MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN was one of the most highly respected entomologists of the 17th century, and remains today one of the field's most significant figures. A German-born naturalist and scientific illustrator, she reared herself on the study of caterpillars, and made tremendous contributions to the knowledge of the life cycles of numerous species. Until her detailed and careful study of the process of metamorphosis it was thought that insects were "born of mud," through spontaneous generation. Trained as a miniature painter by her stepfather, she published her first book of illustrations in 1675, at the age of 28. In 1679, Merian published the first volume of the two-volume series on caterpillars, The Wondrous Transformation of Caterpillars and their Strange Diet of Flowers; the second volume followed in 1683. Each volume contained 50 plates that she engraved and etched. In 1699, Merian traveled to Dutch Guiana...
Category

Early 18th Century Naturalistic Still-life Prints

Materials

Watercolor, Engraving

Antique Animal Print of Various Beetles by C. Hoffmann, 1847
Located in Langweer, NL
This print originates from 'Das Buch der Welt' by Carl Hoffmann. Published in Stuttgart, 1847. Lithographs by Engelhorn and Hochdanz.
Category

Antique Mid-19th Century Prints

Materials

Paper

Coleoptera - Etching by Jean Francois Turpin - 1831
By Pierre Jean François Turpin
Located in Roma, IT
This is one of the illustrations of "Dizionario di scienze naturali" (Natural sciences dictionary) edited by Battelli nel 1831.  The work was made of 29 volumes, containing hundreds ...
Category

1830s Modern Animal Prints

Materials

Etching

Coleoptera - Etching by Jean Francois Turpin-1831
By Pierre Jean François Turpin
Located in Roma, IT
This is one of the illustrations of "Dizionario di scienze naturali" (Natural sciences dictionary) edited by Battelli nel 1831.  The work was made of 29 volumes, containing hundreds ...
Category

1830s Modern Animal Prints

Materials

Etching

Original Antique Print of Various Beetles and Other Insects, 1834
Located in Langweer, NL
Antique print titled 'Insectes Pl.33'. Original antique print of various insects / beetles. This print originates from 'Iconogr. du Regne Animal' published 1834. Artists and ...
Category

Antique 1830s Prints

Materials

Paper