Papaya and Moth Metamorphosis: 18th C. Hand-colored Engraving by Maria Merian, 1730

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This exquisite hand-colored 18th century folio-sized engraving of a papaya plant and moth metamorphosis is plate 64 from Maria Sibylla … Read more This exquisite hand-colored 18th century folio-sized engraving of a papaya plant and moth metamorphosis is plate 64 from Maria Sibylla Merian's publication 'Over de Voortteeling en Wonderbaerlyke Veranderingen der Surinaamsche Insecten' commonly known as 'Insects of Surinam'. This the first Dutch edition of the work which was published in Amsterdam by J. F. Bernard in 1730.
This beautiful, hand-colored 18th century engraving is printed on watermarked laid, chain-lined paper with wide margins. The sheet measures 21.88." high and 14.5" wide. It is in excellent condition, other than a few tiny spots.
Maria Sibylla Merian (1647—1717) was a naturalist and artist. Her contributions to entomology were never appropriately recognized in her lifetime. She is now considered to be a pioneer in the fields of botany and zoology. She made detailed observations of live specimens, which was a departure from previous studies that used preserved specimens. She focused great detail on the processes of metamorphosis, which had not been studied so comprehensively before her work. 

The engravings for the publication were done by J. Mulder, P. Sluyter and A. Stopendaal, all after paintings on vellum by Merian. The work is considered to be one of the most beautiful, and famous illustrated natural history works of the 18th century. 

The work was the result of Merian's trip in 1699 with her daughter Dorothea to Surinam, a Dutch colony on the northeastern coast of South America. The pair studied and recorded plants and insects for two years under difficult conditions. They came back to Amsterdam with specimens, notes and drawings and there completed their astounding work. 

One naturalist proclaimed "Her portrayals of living insects and other animals were imbued with a charm, a minuteness of observation and an artistic sensibility that had not previously been seen in a natural history book; if Gould and Audubon have 'a spiritual ancestor, then it is difficult to think of a more worthy claimant to the title than Maria Sibylla Merian." On the day Maria Sibylla Merian died, Tsar Peter the Great purchased a two-volume collection of her unbound paintings, as well as her journal. See less