Lifecycle of the night peacock butterfly
Painter: Maria Sibylla Merian
Year:
Medium: opaque and transparent watercolour, over traces of graphite, on vellum
Description: Painted on vellum, this depiction may be by Merian’s youngest daughter, Dorothea Maria Gsell. She worked in her mother’s studio, travelled with her to Suriname, and eventually moved to St Petersburg at the invitation of Tsar Peter the Great. There she taught at the Academy of Sciences and was keeper of the natural history collections.
