A Google doodle is today marking the 366th anniversary of the birth of Maria Sibylla Merian, German naturalist and scientific illustrator.
A Google doodle celebrating the work of Maria Sibylla Merian
The German naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian is today being honoured
by a Google
doodle, on the 366th anniversary of her birth.
Merian is known in the world of science and nature for studying plants and
insects and producing detailed paintings of them.
She was born in Frankfurt in 1647 and began painting insect specimens she had
captured at the age of 13. She later worked as a botanic artist, publishing
three collections of engravings of plants in 1675, 1677 and 1680.
Following this, she began to focus more on the study of insects. Her work on
the life-cycle and metamorphosis of butterflies is regarded as
groundbreaking, making her a significant contributor to entomology.
In 1699, Merian travelled to the Dutch colony of Surinam in South America.
There, she spent two years sketching local animals and plants, which formed
the basis of her 1705 book Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium.
In 1715 Merian suffered a stroke and was partially paralysed. She died two
years later in Amsterdam.
After her death, Russian Tsar Peter the Great acquired a number of her paintings, which are still kept in academic collections in St Petersburg.
The Google doodle weaves several drawings of butterflies, insects, plants and a lizard together to spell "Google". Clicking on the image takes users to a Google search for Maria Sibylla Merian.
Google's first ever doodle was unveiled in 1998 to honour the Burning Man Festival. Since then, it has adapted its hompage logo to pay tribute to John Lennon, Charlie Chaplin, Robert Moog and the London 2012 Olympics, among other famous people and events.
Artists previously honoured by a Google doodle include Andy Warhol, Leonardo Da Vinci and Edvard Munch.
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