A Space of Their Own

Maria Sibylla Merian

Selected Works

Two different plants are shown side by side. On the right is a green stem with yellow, slightly wavy flowers and three thin green leaves. On the left is a brown stem with rounder green leaves and two white flowers. A red beetle has landed on one of the leaves near the flowers.

Study of Capers, Gorse, and a Beetle

1693
Maria Sibylla Merian, Study of Capers, Gorse, and a Beetle, 1693. Watercolor with white gouache on vellum, 35.5 x 26.2 cm. Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art

A bright red bird with red legs and feet, a long, curved black beak, and black tips on its wings is shown from a side profile view. Behind it, a large white egg is also shown.

Scarlet Ibis with an Egg

1699–1700
Maria Sibylla Merian, Scarlet Ibis with an Egg, 1699–1700. Deck paint and gouache on parchment, 42.1 x 30.8 cm. Rijkmuseum
Rijksmuseum

A bright yellow bird with black spot all along its body, black wing tips, and a small curved black beak stands next to a brownish butterfly with an eye-like pattern on its wings. Above them both, a much smaller bright blue butterfly is in the air.

Golden Plover with Examples of Two Butterflies

1701–05
Maria Sibylla Merian, Golden Plover with Examples of Two Butterflies, 1701–05. Watercolor touched with bodycolor and with pen and gray ink on vellum, 35.5 x 30.2 cm. British Museum
British Museum

A green striped squash plant with its curling vines and leaves takes up most of the image, with a slice cut out of the length of the squash to show the seeds and flesh inside. A large caterpillar that is blue on either end and green in the middle, with red and yellow tufts at both ends, is one side of the squash. A large brownish-gray moth is on one of the squash vines.

Watermelon with Caterpillar and Moth

1705
Maria Sibylla Merian, Watermelon with Caterpillar and Moth, 1705. Watercolor touched with bodycolor and with pen and gray ink on vellum, 36.8 x 28.6 cm. British Museum
British Museum

The image shows three different views of frogs at the top, the largest and topmost one with spots, the second-biggest with a few stripes, and the smallest a lighter green with fewer spots. Below them, a long curving flower stem with small blue flowers along its length splits top of the page from the bottom. Below the flower border, illustrations show the physical changes of tadpoles into frogs.

Metamorphosis of a Frog and Blue Flower

ca. 1701–05
Maria Sibylla Merian, Metamorphosis of a Frog and Blue Flower, ca. 1701–05. Watercolor and bodycolor on paper, 30.48 x 26.67 cm. Minneapolis Institute of Art
Minneapolis Institute of Art

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