Maria Sibylla Merian

Maria Sybilla Merian was born on April 2nd, 1647, in Frankfurt, in the Holy Roman Empire. From a young age she showed great interest in insects, collecting and studying them, her step-father, painter Jacob Marrel, encouraged her to paint and draw, and she was trained by his pupil Abraham Mignon. At age thirteen she raised silkworms and began to make drawings of the specimens she captured as well as documenting their life cycle.