Botany in the Early Modern World: Maria Sibylla Merian and Elizabeth Blackwell

Limited by convention and occasionally the law, early modern women rarely achieved reknown as naturalists and artists. Maria Sibylla Merian worked as an artist in Germany, then used her considerable artistic skills in her entymological research in Surinam, where she became the first naturalist to render botanical and entymological specimens holistically in their environmental context. Elizabeth Blackwell was raised in Scotland, then honed her artistic skills and developed botanical knowledge in her study New and Old World plants at Chelsea Physic Garden, London, acquiring much-needed funds to pay her husband's way out of debtors prison. The two women were clearly exceptional in their ability to navigate the boundaries of the period.

Maria Sibylla Merian, Jasmine and Snake, Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphasibus. Rare and Distinctive Collections, CU Boulder Libraries.

Maria Sibylla Merian, Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphosibus Insectorum Surinamensium. The Hague: Gosse, 1726.

Throughout history, talented women in the arts and sciences have had meager opportunities to contribute their works. One woman who changed that, however, and received global recognition and admiration was Maria Sibylla Merian, a 17th century illustrator, artist, and naturalist. Born on April 2nd, 1967, in today's Germany, Merian was brought up in a family of artists and illustrators (Rogers 2022). However, compared to her father Matthäus Merian (a Swiss illustrator and engraver) and her stepfather Jacob Marrel (a German still artist), Merian was captivated by nature and metamorphosis. Her works surrounded the life cycle of living creatures, being the first to capture the symbiotic relationship between Flora and Fauna.

Titled ‘Jasmine and Snake,’ Merian illustrates the life cycle of a moth and a jasmine. This piece is just one of many engravings and illustrations found in her Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphasibus Insectorum Surinamensium, published in 1726. This collection of engravings was specifically made to showcase her intense five-year long research on fauna and flora in Suriname. The ‘Jasmine and Snake,’ illustrated here was achieved using water-colored engravings, since women at that time were not allowed access to oil paint.

In the piece we see the three stages of a moth’s metamorphosis, from green caterpillar, consuming parts of the jasmine plant, to a pupa, hanging on to sturdy stem of the plant, and finally, a fully hatched and mature moth, sipping nectar from the jasmine’s beautifully colored flowers. In parallel, we see the stages of life the jasmine passes through. From a green and less developed stage in the bottom part, to a solid, multi-stemmed middle part with dying leaves, blooming and some developing flowers. At the top, we see the multiple developing flowers with less stems and leaves.

It is truly intriguing because wherever there is an ending life, we see a new one growing or flourishing. Where the pupa hangs and the flowers bloom, for example, we see a stem of leaves dying. And where we see a mature moth taking its necessities of life, and developing flowers spring all around, we see another stem of leaves dying. However, I believe the tying image here is the snake. From ancient times, snakes have always symbolized life. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, “history’s oldest known fictional story,” (Andrews 2018) a snake consumes the plant of everlasting youth and sheds its skin as a symbol of life and rebirth.

I believe that Merian’s purpose with the “Jasmine and Snake,’ was the same as all her pieces in the published Dissertatio de Generatione et Metamorphasibus Insectorum Surinamensium; to bring greater scientific understanding to the notion of metamorphosis and symbiosis. As such, the best subjects to study would be flora and fauna. Untouched by human interference, Merian quietly and keenly observed mother nature’s creatures interacting with her gifts of green. Furthermore, this piece has great ties to the history of medicine and public health because it depicts a plant that carries immense importance in the creation of early Eastern Medicine and Western Physiology. Additionally, I believe Merian piece reflects society’s understanding of disease and healing. In that period, disease was well understood, some credited it to religious omens, and others to mother nature. Merian here, wanted to show that just like nature, a life ends where a new one begins. Likewise, we as people grow and develop through metamorphosis-like events such as through natural immunity.

- Hader Eid Almeraikhi, Fall '22

Maria Sibylla Merian, Indian Cress, Histoires des Insectes de l'Europe, c. 1730. Rare and Distinctice Collections, CU Boulder Libraries.

Maria Sibylla Merian, Histoire des Insectes de L'Europe. Amsterdam: Jean Frederic Bernard, 1730.

Maria Sibylla Merian was an entomologist from Frankfurt, Germany who created multiple drawings of different types of flora and fauna in 1730. She traveled to South America where inspiration for all of her drawings began. She began to draw the new insects and bugs she encountered for the next two years of her life. Merian has various drawings, one being the illustration of the Indian Cress flower. In this, we see moths, their larvae, and the flower and its leaves. Merian pays extra attention to the detail within the flower and its branches and leaves. All of the drawings within this book were hand-drawn and colored and were meant to help people understand more about the flowers she was drawing. Her goal was to reach different parts of the world with her drawings in order for them to study and learn more about them. If you look at the image, you will see a yellow-red flower with its leaves out of it. Merian pays more attention to the flower in comparison to the bugs due to the plant having various medicinal properties. While Andean people had already discovered some of the health and medicinal benefits of the plant, a lot of the world wasn’t aware of this. Some pieces also from the seventeenth century that were similar and had the same goal were those of Elizabeth Blackwell. She illustrated and published an herbal in the hope of teaching people more about the different plants she was discovering in London at the time. The intended audience was most likely people within the academia world. Merian's goal in publishing these was to help people become more familiar with new plants. Being an entomologist, Maria paid close attention to plants that had histories of being beneficial to medicine. This piece reflects its period because it shows how little people knew about medicinal plants and different insects. Both of the women mentioned above illustrate their discoveries in the hope tof teaching others and spreadong the word of these new-found plants.

- Anonymous, Fall '22

Elizabeth Blackwell, Lovage, A Curious Herball, c. 1740. Rare and Distinctive Collections, CU Boulder Libraries.

Elizabeth Blackwell, A Curious Herbal: containing five hundred cuts, of the most useful plants, which are now used in the practice of physick. London: Samuel Harding, M.D.CC.XXXVII. [1737].

Before the days of cameras and printers that capture objects in exquisite detail at a moment's notice many works of art were hand drawn with immense effort that paid off with their popularity soaring to points where they are still relevant today. Elizabeth Blackwell’s (1707-1758) an artist whose work, as you can see, reaches if not surpasses this level.

Blackwell’s story begins with the imprisonment of her husband for debt-related reasons, forcing her to provide for her family while she lived in the chaotic city of London. She later found her talent in the illustration of botany, creating vibrant and precise pieces that would eventually gain traction across Europe. This was no surprise. Her work The Curious Herbal was a collection of around five hundred hand painted etchings like the one first pictured, each just as beautiful as the last.

This etching in particular is of a “Lovage” which is a North American plant like most if not all of the other etchings she illustrated, which is another reason for the popularity of her work. With more regions of North America recently explored by Europeans, there was great interest in learning the medicinal value of newly discovered plants. As you can see “Lovage” with its vibrant colors also has a caption, which in a concise fashion, explains various parts of the flower and its name.

Blackwell did not become as popular as other botanical illustrators in her field. For instance, Georg Dionysius Ehret was an illustrator much like Blackwell. His “A Magnolia Species" was published during the same years Blackwell released her works. As can see Ehret’s work does have more detail and information than that of Blackwell’s, leading to his illustrations being more favorable in the botanical world. Blackwell’s work, much like Ehrets had massive impacts on the botanical world, breaking down the plants they aim to study in immense detail and making education on this matter more accessible. In addition, many who were not involved in botanical studies saw the beauty in these works, although mostly The Curious Herbal was mostly beneficial to the medicinal market like physicians, apothecaries, and botanists. During a time period when disease was prominent and new worlds were in the midst being discovered, these works were in high demand for those with all types of curiosity. Furthering the work of medicinal and botanical researchers, The Curious Herbal and Blackwell were no doubt valuable to these sciences.

- Alex Froggatt, Fall '22