Banana
1719
Maria Sibylla Merian wasn't just painting pretty flowers; she was documenting the wild, buggy reality of nature in 1719. This vibrant plate showcases a banana plant in full glory, from its striking red blossom to clusters of green and yellow fruit, but look closer—there's a fuzzy green caterpillar munching away on the left and a beautiful moth hovering above. Merian was a trailblazer who traveled to Suriname to study insect metamorphosis, proving that caterpillars turn into butterflies and moths, a radical idea at the time. This hand-colored engraving captures her signature style of linking plants directly to the insects that live on them.
- Technique
- hand-colored engraving
- Material
- paper
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