Public data from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Learn more
Convolvulus and Metamorphosis of the Convolvulus Hawk Moth
About the Artwork
The artist Maria Sibylla Merian was one of the most important entomologists of the 17th century. Her studies of caterpillars, which she reared herself, contributed to knowledge of the life cycles of numerous species. Trained as a miniature painter by her stepfather, she combined her artistic talent with her scientific interest, creating images such as this one, which portrays the life cycle of the European pink-spotted hawk moth as well as its favorite food, the morning glory. Merian added additional caterpillar species to the sheet to create a pleasing and astonishingly detailed composition.
Inscriptions
recto, signed, lower right in brown ink: M. Sybilla Merian; inscribed lower right above signature in graphite: No 61 and lower left in graphite A; on mount, brown ink, Surinamse Liguster pylstaart Uyl met de Rups en sop and No. 45. A. and Sibilla Merian fecit 1670.; on mount, underneath sheet, inscribed, brown ink, Sibilla Merian fe.
Provenance
July 7, 1999: Sotheby's, London, England 1999-2019: Private Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands March 4, 2019: the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Making Her Mark: A History of Women Artists in Europe, 1400-1800. The Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD (co-organizer) (October 1, 2023-January 7, 2024) https://artbma.org/exhibition/making-her-mark-a-history-of-women-artists-in-europe-1400-1800; Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (organizer) (co-organizer) (March 27-July 1, 2024) https://ago.ca/exhibitions/making-her-mark-history-women-artists-europe-1400-1800.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Maria Sibylla Merian (German, active Netherlands, 1647–1717)
- Date
- c. 1670–90
- Medium
- watercolor with touches of opaque watercolor over indications in black chalk or graphite on vellum
- Dimensions
- Support: 41 x 54.7 x 0.2 cm (16 1/8 x 21 9/16 x 1/16 in.); Image: 28.9 x 37.2 cm (11 3/8 x 14 5/8 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- John L. Severance Fund
- Accession no.
- 2019.9
More by Maria Sibylla Merian in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00011171
Powered by Art Trackers