The Life &amp; Legacy of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) in the context of the social issues and challenges of the 21st century: A study on the features contributing to the ongoing interest in Merian and her work

The German born Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) is receiving a lot of attention in the 21st century, three hundred years after her death. This thesis intends to investigate her life and legacy in order to understand this ongoing interest. Merian is well known for her artistic skills and her lifelong passion to study the metamorphosis of moths and butterflies. Her dedication brought her to the Dutch colony Suriname to research the tropical specimen. After her return to Amsterdam, she published her master piece Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium containing sixty plates with accompanying texts of the life cycles of the insects together with their host plants. She was the first ecologist not only showing the diversity of the tropical nature but also representing its interaction and connectedness. This book made her famous in the whole Western world. By the end of the 18th century her fame faded away for almost two centuries. She came back into the limelight during the World War II....Show moreThe German born Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) is receiving a lot of attention in the 21st century, three hundred years after her death. This thesis intends to investigate her life and legacy in order to understand this ongoing interest. Merian is well known for her artistic skills and her lifelong passion to study the metamorphosis of moths and butterflies. Her dedication brought her to the Dutch colony Suriname to research the tropical specimen. After her return to Amsterdam, she published her master piece Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium containing sixty plates with accompanying texts of the life cycles of the insects together with their host plants. She was the first ecologist not only showing the diversity of the tropical nature but also representing its interaction and connectedness. This book made her famous in the whole Western world. By the end of the 18th century her fame faded away for almost two centuries. She came back into the limelight during the World War II. After the war at the time of the second wave of feminism she made a true revival. Ever since, there is an increasing interest in her and her work evidenced by many expositions, congresses, auctions of her work, and the founding of the international Maria Sibylla Merian Society. This thesis investigates which features of Merian and her legacy resonate with the social issues and challenges of the 21st century, such as (eco)feminism, destruction of ecological systems and climate change. Last but not least, what is the role of the beauty of her artistic and scientific illustrations?Show less

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The Life & Legacy of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) in the context of the social issues and challenges of the 21st century: A study on the features contributing to the ongoing interest in Merian and her work