A woman publishing a book was a very big deal, but Maria Sibylla was already hard at work preparing something much more ambitious. In 1675, her husband published Maria Sibylla’s first book, a collection of flower and plant illustrations intended to be used as models and patterns for works of art and embroidery. She also studied the plant and insect life of Nuremberg, and continued to create her art. Maria Sibylla’s reputation as an artist spread quickly in her new city, and she started teaching other young women how to paint and draw. In 1670, the small family moved to the city of Nuremberg, John’s hometown. Three years later, she gave birth to their first daughter, Johanna. In 1665, when Maria Sibylla was 18 years old, she married John Andreas Graff, her stepfather’s apprentice. Her family was a bit confused by her love of insects, but they were impressed by her artwork and encouraged her studies. She was able to collect many silk worm samples because her uncle was a silk manufacturer. Her first serious study was a collection of drawings and descriptions of the life cycle of silk worms. She was fascinated by the metamorphosis, or changes, that insects underwent over the course of their lives. At the age of 13, she began to collect and study insects. Instead, Maria Sybilla found inspiration in her own backyard. But when her brothers were allowed to travel around Europe to finish their artistic education, Maria Sibylla was held back because girls of her social standing were not allowed that kind of freedom. Along with the traditional girl’s education of reading, writing, and household tasks, she learned to paint and print books and pictures alongside her brothers. Maria Sibylla enjoyed a very privileged childhood. She was raised in a family of famous publishers and artists that had connections all over Europe. ![]() ![]() Maria Sibylla Merian was born in 1647 in Frankfort am Main, a city in what is now Germany.
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