Maria Sibylla Merian - Hatje Cantz

The back cover of a book with German text and watercolor illustrations. On the left are thin stems with pink flowers and an orange butterfly. On the right is a tall blue iris. At the bottom is a green and blue landscape with a caterpillar and a barcode.

A high-angle photo of the book Maria Sibylla Merian: Ein Leben mit Pinsel, Lupe und Papier by Sophie Artz, lying on a white surface. The illustrated cover shows a large peacock butterfly above a drawing of a woman in a blue dress, who is in a garden examining a plant with a magnifying glass.

An illustrated family tree of naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian, spread across two pages of an open book. The family members are depicted in oval portraits that grow on green plant stems, interspersed with colorful drawings of flowers and insects. Handwritten labels in German identify each person and their relationship to Merian.

An open book with colorful, hand-drawn illustrations and handwritten German text. The left page is a comic strip showing women and a girl studying tadpoles in a jar. The right page has a large illustration of canal houses in Amsterdam in 1691, with a chapter heading below.

An open book on a white surface shows a two-page spread of a colorful, hand-painted comic. The panels depict a jungle setting with scenes including a fruit pod with red seeds, a red bird, a river with a canoe, mangrove roots, a lizard, and pink water lilies. Speech bubbles contain handwritten German text.

A multi-panel watercolor illustration telling the story of the silkworm life cycle with handwritten German text. The panels show a girl discovering caterpillars in a box, feeding them mulberry leaves, and observing them as they grow. The illustrations depict the caterpillars eating, then spinning fine threads from their mouths to create white cocoons on a green stalk. The text explains that moths will eventually hatch.

A hand-drawn illustration of a large, fluffy white moth against a solid olive-green background. The moth's cream-colored wings are spread out, showing delicate grey line patterns and a small brown eyespot on each lower wing. It has large, feathery antennae and simple black eyes.

A multi-panel watercolor illustration in a storybook style with handwritten German text. The left panels show detailed drawings of various flowers and a scene of women in historical attire having a drawing lesson in a garden. The right panels meticulously display a variety of historical art supplies, including raw pigments like lapis lazuli, brushes, parchment, and jars of gum arabic, illustrating the process and trade of a female artist.

A hand-drawn comic strip in German depicting a journey from Amsterdam to Surinam in 1699. The panels show a woman and her daughter boarding a large sailing ship, the voyage across the Atlantic on a map, and their arrival. The comic contrasts their journey with scenes of enslaved African people being forced to harvest and process sugarcane on a plantation in Surinam.

An eight-panel comic strip with colorful, child-like watercolor illustrations depicting life in a tropical rainforest. The panels show a green fruit pod with red seeds, a river at sunset, a small caiman swimming, a large pink water lily at night, a red bird on a branch, a monkey among tree roots, and a caiman on a lily pad. Speech bubbles in German explain that the water lily blooms at night and that seeds are used for body paint.

A hand-drawn comic strip in German with a colored pencil and watercolor style, depicting the process of studying and preserving insects. Panels show two women attracting moths with a light at night, questioning why they fly to it, and hands carefully pinning and preparing colorful butterflies for a scientific collection.

A two-panel colored pencil illustration depicting the work of naturalist Maria Sibylla Merian. The left panel shows hands studying and preparing insect specimens, with various illustrations of insects. The right panel displays an open book with detailed drawings of butterflies, caterpillars, flowers, and a pineapple. Handwritten German text is present on both panels, describing her book on the insects of Surinam.

Maria Sibylla Merian

Ein Leben mit Pinsel, Lupe und Papier

€ 24.00

VAT included. Shipping costs will be calculated at checkout

Amount

Author: Sophie Artz

Illustrated by: Sophie Artz

November 2024, 56 Pages

Hardcover

204mm x 267mm

Age: 8+

ISBN: 978-3-7757-5819-2

HATJE CANTZ VERLAG
Mommsenstr. 27
10629 Berlin
Germany
E-Mail: contact@hatjecantz.de

According to Article 9(7) of the GPSR Regulation, no additional security information is required for books without supplements or special functions.

Press download

In this captivating illustrated biography, Sophie Artz tells the life story of the naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717). At a time when most people regarded insects as devilish and unclean, Merian ignited a passion for these fascinating creatures, which she captured in breathtaking drawings and prints. At the age of fifty, she sold her possessions and embarked on an adventurous journey to Suriname with her daughter to explore the flora and fauna there. Sophie Artz revives the stages of Merian's life as an entomologist, world traveler, businesswoman and artist in sensitive, poetic imagery and a precise narrative style.

SOPHIE ARTZ (*1990) is a Berlin-based artist who works with drawing and illustration. She explores the boundaries between science, fiction, natural history and art.