Scientific Illustration

Coryne ramosa from Gosse’s A naturalist’s rambles on the Devonshire coast by University of Glasgow Library on Flickr.

Plate 8 from Merian’s Der Raupen wunderbare… by University of Glasgow Library on Flickr.

“Maria Sibilla Merian: Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumennahrung
Nuremberg: 1679 
Sp Coll Euing d3-b.19

Maria Sibilla Merian (1647-1717) was the daughter of Matthäus Merian the Elder, a Swiss engraver of some note; her maternal grandfather was the Dutch botanical engraver Johann Theodor de Bry, and she was taught to paint by her stepfather, Jacob Marrel, another artist who specialized in traditional Dutch flower compositions. A self taught naturalist, she was a pioneering entomologist and great botanical artist.”