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Born in Frankfurt
Maria Sibylla Merian was born as a daughter of engraver Matthäus Merian the Elder (1593-1650) and Johanna Sibylla Heim (before 1632‒1690). Very early Maria Sibylla knew she wanted to become a painter and taught herself drawing with watercolours. Since she was the daughter of an artist, Maria had the opportunity to have an education at home. She was trained by her stepfather Jacob Marell (1614‒1681) in Frankfurt am Main. Afterwards, she was taught by Johann Paul Auer (1638‒1687) in Nürnberg. -
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Merian's Life
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Johanna Sibylla Heim remarries to Jakob Marell
A year after the death of Matthäus Merian the Elder, Johanna Sibylla Heim married with Jakob Marell. Marell was also a painter, who introduced his stepdaughter Maria Sibylla in miniature painting of flowers. In 1659 she accompanied Marell to Utrecht, where she learned the skills of Dutch still-life painting. -
Maria Sibylla starts to breed caterpillars
Maria Sibylla started to have a serious interest in insects when she reached the age of thirteen (as she described in her first Raupenbuch). Especially the genesis and development of caterpillars fascinated her, and Maria Sibylla decided to breed the insects herself to understand more of their behaviour. -
Marries to Johann Andreas Graff
At the age of eighteen Maria Sibylla marries topographer Johann Andreas Graff. Graff had been an apprentice of her stepfather Jakob Marell. In 1670 they moved to Nuremberg because Graff, who was born there, had better opportunities to work here. -
Birth of Johanna Helena Graff
Johanna Helena Graff was born in Frankfurt. From an early age she learned painting and drawing from her mother. In 1692 Johanna Helena married Jacob Hendrik Herolt, a former labadist who traded in Suriname. She started to sell her own flowerpaintings, and moved in 1711 permanently to Suriname. -
First volume Neues Blumenbuch published
The Neues Blumenbuch consisted out of three volumes which were published in 1675, 1677 and 1680. Each Blumenbuch had twelve plates with flowers, and could be used as models for embroidery. -
Neues Blumenbuch second volume published
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Birth of Dorothea Maria Henriette Graff
Dorothea Maria was born in Nuremberg, and moved between 1678 and 1699 to Frankfurt, Wieuwerd and Amsterdam. In 1699 she accompanied her mother Maria Sibylla to Suriname to investigate tropical plants and insects. In 1701 they both returned to Amsterdam, where Dorothea Maria married Philip Hendriks who worked as a surgeon. Together with her mother they stayed in Amsterdam. After ten years Philip Hendriks died and Dorothea Maria remarried in 1715 with Georg Gsell, a Swiss born painter. -
Der raupen wunderbare Verwandlung und sonderbare Blumennahrung published
This book was the result of Merian's research on the caterpillar's metamorphosis. She was one of the first who not only painted the insects in every detail, but also drew the caterpillars in their natural habitat. -
Neues Blumenbuch third volume published
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Moves to Friesland, Wieuwerd
In 1685 Maria Sibylla moved to Wieuwerd with her daughters and her mother. They stayed in Waltha State as a part of a labadist comunity, where half-brother Caspar Merian settled eight years ago. After six years the community fell apart due to internal problems. Half-brother and mother had died and Maria Sibylla moved with her two daughters to Amsterdam. -
Moves to Amsterdam, Kerkstraat
In Amsterdam Maria Sibylla continued her research, with the help of her daughters. Here she contacted several renowned collectors like the director of the Hortus Botanicus and botanist Frederik Ruysch. However she wasn't satisfied with the collections because they were not able to show the entire metamorphosis of the caterpillars. Maria Sibylla decided hereby out of curiosity to go to Suriname with yer youngest daughter Maria Dorothea. -
Moves to Suriname for two years
After Maria Sibylla and her daughter Maria Dorothea travelled for three months per ship, they arrived in Paramaribo. Maria Sibylla made several expeditions from there in the jungle to collect and observe different types of tropical caterpillars, fruits and plants. Maria Sibylla and her daughter took notes of the characteristics of their collection and drew sketches for a future book to come. -
Returns to Holland
In 1701 Maria Sibylla became seriously ill (she may have had malaria), and had to return to Holland. Three years after her return Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was published. This was an immense project and her daughters must have helped her during this period with drawing and colouring. -
Death of Johann Andreas Graff
In 1685 Maria Sibylla had already split with her husband Johann Andreas Graff when she moved to the labadist community in Wieuwerd. Maria Sibylla officially divorced from Graff in 1692. -
Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium published
The Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium was published in Dutch and Latin and consisted of sixty plates. Maria Sibylla seldom signed her drawings, but her oldest daughter Johanna Helena sometimes did. Therefor it's nowadays possible to compare different stylistic elements and determine who drew or coloured the plates. -
Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach visits Maria Sibylla Merian
In 1711 scholar Zacharias Conrad von Uffenbach visited María Sibylla Merian in Amsterdam and bought several of her works. -
Day of death, Amsterdam
In 1714 Maria Sibylla got a stroke and became paralyzed. Maria Sibylla's daughters finished her work under her name. Three years later Maria Sibylla died and was buried on a cemetery in Leiden.
