Maria Sibylla Merian is one of the most famous scientists and painters in the 17th century.

These engravings do show scenes of decorative flowers and various counterpillars with their matching butterflies. The plates were engraved after Maria Sibylla Merian’s own observations and were originally published first in her ‚Raupenbuch’ between 1679 and 1717. Maria Sybilla Merian was one of the first scientists, who watched insects systematically.

She played a prominent role in the discovery of the metamorphosis of the butterflies. With her publications the new knowledge about the metamorphosis of the butterflies was brought to a larger part of the population.