Getting started with the collection:
Lifecycle of the night peacock butterfly
workshop of Maria Sibylla Merian, after 1679
Painted on vellum, this depiction may be by Merian’s youngest daughter, Dorothea Maria Gsell. She worked in her mother’s studio, travelled with her to Suriname, and eventually moved to St Petersburg at the invitation of Tsar Peter the Great. There she taught at the Academy of Sciences and was keeper of the natural history collections.
- Artwork typedrawing
- Object numberRP-T-1946-73
- Dimensionsheight 192 mm x width 155 mm
- Physical characteristicspenseel in waterverf en dekverf, over sporen van grafiet, op perkament