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Maria Sibylla Merian - J. Mulder - Ginger plant and castnis moths Nr. 36

About the Item

From Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, first published 1705 Engravings by J. Mulder, P. Sluyter (Sluiter) and D. Stoopendaal after Maria Sybilla Merian. This plate is part of a comprehensive collection comprising 17 plates. Check out other listings to view the entire series. 1964 Hoffman and Campe Verlag, Hamburg Complete production Mladinska Knjiga, Ljubljana/Yugoslavia. This 1964 official reproduction table come from the editions: Dissertation sur la génération et les transformations des insectes de Surinam, The Hague, Pierre Gosse, 1726, and Over de Voortteeling en Wonderbaerlyke Veranderingen der Surinaamsche insects, Amsterdam, Jean Frederic Bernard, 1730. GINGER AND CASTNIA MOTHS A plant from the ginger family that only grows in Suriname and neighboring British Guiana, Costus niveus, the snow-white gingerbread. The parallel-veined leaves twist powerfully out of the stem. The interplay of the two diagonals, the drawn stem and the line imagined between the butterflies, the structure that occurs in tiers of leaves and is crowned by the tubular flower. The inconspicuous white flower is given weight by its position. This is one of the plants that the author had moved to the garden for food. No one could tell her her name; on the contrary, they made fun of her because she was interested in something other than sugar. Many other things could be found in these forests if it were possible to walk through them. For they are so full of thistles and thorns that I had to let some slaves go ahead of me and cut the path for me with knives. The butterfly is Castnia licus and belongs to a strange family. The moths only fly in hot sun and otherwise behave like daytime butterflies, but they are close relatives of the clothes moths. About a hundred species, all of which live in tropical America, belong to this family. The caterpillars live inside the plant and do not leave their tunnels voluntarily; some of them are pests of sugar cane. The lower small group consists of cicadas, i.e. rhynchotes, beaked cicadas. (Original plate no. 36) ____________________________________ Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) Joseph Mulder, Pieter Sluyter, and D. Stopendael worked as engravers from the original drawings by Merian, who oversaw all aspects of the publication of her works during her lifetime. The Metamorphosis is Merian's most famous work, resulting from her journey with her daughter Dorothea to Surinam in 1699. The two women spent two years studying and recording insects and plants, returning to Amsterdam with a series of finished drawings on vellum, sketches and specimens, from which they continued to work. The work first appeared simultaneously in Latin and Dutch in 1705 with 60 plates. Later editions all included 12 additional plates after Merian's elder daughter Johanna. MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN, born in 1647 in Frankfurt on the Main, was a daughter of the renowned engraver and publisher, Matthaeus Merian. From childhood she showed a vivid interest in the world of plants and insects. In her engravings an eminent artistic talent meets with scientific accuracy. First she worked in Nuremberg, the birthplace of her husband, and at a later period in the Netherlands. From 1690 to 1701 she stayed, as a member of the Labadist congregation, in Surinam (Dutch Guiana), exploring the hitherto unknown beauties of tropical plants and butterflies; her most significant work, the METAMORPHOSIS INSECTORUM SURINAMENSIUM, was the result of this voyage. After her return to Europe, the artist died in 1717 in Amsterdam. MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLATES FROM THE BIG BOOK OF BUTTERFLIES AND PLANTS METAMORPHOSIS OF SURINAMESE INSECTS SELECTED INTRODUCED AND DESCRIBED BY GERHARD NEBEL MERIAN LIBRARY FROM HOFFMANN AND CAMPE PUBLISHING HAMBURG MCMLXIV
  • Creator:
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 17.72 in (45 cm)Width: 11.93 in (30.3 cm)Depth: 0.04 in (1 mm)
  • Style:
    Other (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Paper,Other
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1964
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    EINDHOVEN, NL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU9046237941372
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  • Maria Sibylla Merian - J. Mulder - Pomegranate and blue morpho Nr. 9
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  • Maria Sibylla Merian - J. Mulder - Batate and spinners Nr. 41
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  • Maria Sibylla Merian - J. Mulder - Passionflower and insects Nr. 21
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  • Maria Sibylla Merian - Coral Tree and Silk Moth Nr. 11
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