Pineapple with Caterpillar and Butterfly

A pioneering naturalist in Suriname, pineapple and metamorphosis. Ananas comosus with the Philaethria dido life cycle, plate 2 of Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium (1705). Merian, alone in Suriname at 52, paints plant, caterpillar and insect together: ecology avant la lettre, and a colonial testimony to read closely.

Plate from the virtual exhibition Wondrous Flora (Trace Museum, 1705-1887).