Merian, Maria Sybille
Plate No: 71 Frog
- Published: Amsterdam
- Published date: 1719
- Type: Print
- Issue date: 1719
- Technique: Copper engraving / later hand colored.
- Category: Insects of Surinam
- Size: 415 by 305mm (16¼ by 12 inches).
- Bibliography: Plate: 71
- Stock number: 37704
- Condition: In very good to excellent condition.
Article description
Original antique copper engraving, finely hand colored. Copper engraving, published in the famous series 'Over de Voortteeling en Wonderbaerlyke veranderingen der Surinaemsche Insecten'. This interesting leaf shows the developmental stage from frog spawn to tadpole to adult frog. A fine engraving from M.S. Merian's classic work. Maria Sybilla Merian, daughter of the German engraver and publisher Matthäus Merian, devoted herself to the study of European insects and their metamorphoses. As a result of the wealth of tropical varieties being brought back by the Dutch West Indies Company, she decided to visit the Dutch colony of Surinam herself to study and paint the insect life there. She sailed with her daughter Dorothea in June 1699 from Amsterdam, and remained in Surinam until 1701. Also Maria Sybilla Merian's elder daughter Johanna went to Surinam to complete her mothers work. This plate was engraved by P. Sluyter.
Plate: 71