botanical illustrations

Our wonder | wander | world find for this week celebrates both the art and beauty of science, as well as the life and work of Maria Sibilla Merian - 17th century entomologist, artist, and adventurer.

In a time when women were corseted in limitations and had few options, Merian made her own profession.

Not just excelling in illustrating plants and insects but by depicting the life cycles of butterflies and moths she helped advance the theory and process of metamorphosis.

She was a published author and artist, a divorcee and single mother, an artist who lived in a commune, and an adventurer who traveled to Suriname.

Her life and work languished and were forgotten for centuries and her contributions were only recognized in the 20th century.

Luckily we can still study and enjoy her books today.