The Female Artist Who Showed How Plants and Insects Relate

The Female Artist Who Showed How Plants and Insects Relate

From roughly the 15th through the 19th centuries, most European botanical collectors and artists experienced the Americas through seeds and specimens painstakingly brought back from scientific voyages. But some traveled to encounter plants in their natural habitats. One such artist was Maria Sibylla Merian. Merian was born in Frankfurt, where her stepfather, the still-life artist Jacob Marrel, taught her to paint flowers in watercolor. Alongside…