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Maria Sibylla Merian - J. Mulder - Pomegranate and blue morpho Nr. 9
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.
POMEGRANATE AND BLUE MORPHO
Vivid red blossom and juicy fruit of the Oriental-Mediterranean pomegranate tree, Punica granatum, which was transplanted to Suriname and released into the wild there. The author regrets that this plant is no longer cultivated in Guyana. The fruit contains numerous seeds surrounded by an edible fruit pulp. The juice that squirts out when consumed is processed into grenadine and gives the flavor to most Arabic scherbets. The bark of the unripe fruit produces a red color that is used to tan the Moroccan leather. Always and in all cultures in which it is known, the plant has left a deep imprint on the human spirit; it is one of the most crossed gates that lead into the interior of nature. In Egypt the pomegranate was sacred and because of the countless seeds it was viewed as a symbol of fertility. In early Christianity it was considered the biblical tree of life and was considered a symbol of eternity. We recognize something of this holiness in the perfect design of the engraving; we are conquered as if by a being of a higher kind.
The broken fruit, the buds to its side, above it the two opened flowers and then the contrast of red and blue of the resting, waiting plant and the hovering butterfly that complements its peacock-like surface. Peace and movement are conveyed by the sitting animal, which shows its inconspicuous back and could move, but does not.
The butterfly is Morpho melaneus from the family Morphidae, which has around forty species in tropical South America. The insects stay above the treetops, in the tops of the jungle, and only rarely come down to the ground, perhaps to drink. The pupa belongs to this species, but is empty because the imago has already emerged. Maria Sibylla seems to have been mistaken about the caterpillar, despite her firm assurance that it probably does not belong to this species. The painter is enthusiastic about the butterfly: “It is a silvery blue framed by a brown edge, and this in turn is filled with white crescents. The underside is a yellow-spotted brown. When it flies, it does so at great speed.
(Original plate No.9)
____________________________________
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:Maria Sibylla Merian (Artist)
- 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: LU9046237942842
Maria Sibylla Merian
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. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Maria Sibylla Merian was the daughter of Matthaus Merian the Elder (1593—1650), a famous German-Swiss painter, engraver and publisher. Her father died when she was three and her mother remarried Jacob Marrel (1614-1681), who was a still-life painter. From the time she was eleven, Marrel schooled Maria Sibylla Merian in the tradition of northern European still life painting, working directly from life. As her interests evolved toward the study of insects, she employed these artistic skills to create her outstanding scientific and esthetically beautiful works. She was truly at the crossroads of art and science.
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