For her time, Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) was a modern, daring, scandalous, divorced woman who lived in a cloister and at the age of 52 went off to Dutch Suriname to fulfill her calling as a painter and naturalist, building a bridge between science and art. Her “Metamorphosis of Insects in Suriname” has been a major influence on both entomology and on naturalist illustration.
Producer: Chris Chambers
Broadcast: January 21, 2004