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A woman with light colored skin, wearing a black top and white pants, talks to a group of people in a gallery room. She stands in front of a large, painted portrait of a woman in a high-collared red dress.
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National Museum of Women in the Arts

Plate 18 from Dissertation in Insect Generations and Metamorphosis in Surinam

A detailed engraving portrays fearsome tarantulas arrayed on a tree limb swarming with small spiders and large ants. It bears a single bulbous yellow fruit. One tarantula feasts on a hummingbird, while another tends an egg sac. A third hunts in webs spun amid upper branches.
Maria Sibylla Merian, Plate 18 from Dissertation in Insect Generations and Metamorphosis in Surinam, 2nd edition, 1719; Hand-colored engraving on paper, 20 1/2 x 14 1/2 in.; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay
Close up of Plate 18 from Dissertation in Insect Generations and Metamorphosis in Surinam
A detailed engraving portrays fearsome tarantulas arrayed on a tree limb swarming with small spiders and large ants. It bears a single bulbous yellow fruit. One tarantula feasts on a hummingbird, while another tends an egg sac. A third hunts in webs spun amid upper branches.

Artwork Details

  • Artist

    Maria Sibylla Merian

  • Title

    Plate 18 from Dissertation in Insect Generations and Metamorphosis in Surinam

  • Date

    1719

  • Medium

    Hand-colored engraving on paper

  • Dimensions

    20 1/4 x 14 1/2 in.

  • Donor Credit

    Gift of Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay

  • Image Credit

    Photo by Lee Stalsworth

  • On Display

    No

The Artist, Maria Sibylla Merian

Using her keen observational skills, Maria Sibylla Merian revolutionized both botany and zoology. From early childhood, she was interested in drawing insects and plants surrounding her.
Etching of a woman holding the stem of a flower in her left land. Her white hair is short and curled to show an earring in her right ear. Her dress, with its lace collar and voluminous sleeves, looks like it is made from expensive fabrics. Her expresssion is open and frank.