ARTISTS
An Ode to Maria Sibylla Merian
To mark the three hundredth anniversary of Maria Sibylla Merian鈥檚 death, the Rijksmuseum presents an ode to the German-born artist and scientist.
Merian was fascinated by plants and insects, studied them intensively and even travelled through Suriname to record the metamorphoses of caterpillars into butterflies. The presentation includes two publications by Merian and thirteen photomontages by art historian Ella Reitsma inspired by Merian鈥檚 work. The photomontages attest to her great interest in early botanical drawings and old plants that still survive and bloom in gardens today.
In 1691 Maria Sibylla Merian moved to Amsterdam and lived in a house close to where the Rijksmuseum now stands. There she bred insects and followed their metamorphoses in order to draw them and describe them as accurately as possible. She produced a number of publications, among them a book on the metamorphoses of insects in Suriname. Merian was one of the first people to show that all insects, not just some, undergo a change and that there is a close relationship between plants and animals.
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To mark the three hundredth anniversary of Maria Sibylla Merian鈥檚 death, the Rijksmuseum presents an ode to the German-born artist and scientist.
Merian was fascinated by plants and insects, studied them intensively and even travelled through Suriname to record the metamorphoses of caterpillars into butterflies. The presentation includes two publications by Merian and thirteen photomontages by art historian Ella Reitsma inspired by Merian鈥檚 work. The photomontages attest to her great interest in early botanical drawings and old plants that still survive and bloom in gardens today.
In 1691 Maria Sibylla Merian moved to Amsterdam and lived in a house close to where the Rijksmuseum now stands. There she bred insects and followed their metamorphoses in order to draw them and describe them as accurately as possible. She produced a number of publications, among them a book on the metamorphoses of insects in Suriname. Merian was one of the first people to show that all insects, not just some, undergo a change and that there is a close relationship between plants and animals.
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