Maria Sibylla Merian
Maria Sibylla Merian workshop

South American smallhead worm lizard, iguana or East Indian tree lizard and pipefish, after 1701

Blatt: 410 x 299 mm

Physical Description: Watercolour over black chalk or charcoal on vellum, framed on all sides with a line in pen and brown ink

Inventory Number: 1492

Object Number: 1492 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 1817 from the Johann Georg Grambs Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

When she returned from her two-year expedition to Surinam in South America from 1699 to 1701, Maria Sibylla Merian brought a large number of preserved animal specimens with her – not just insects, but also reptiles and amphibians. She was able to sell them – there was widespread interest among the collectors of such objects in Amsterdam –, but they also served her as models for gouache drawings, for example Obj. No. 1492 Z. Her daughters may also have collaborated on these drawings. The significance of the stars surrounding the pipefish has yet to be explained.