3-092-075 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Copper brood moth with caterpillars and cocoon, after 1679. Merian's precious parchment drawings, depicting motifs from her "Caterpillar Book", were formerly considered the models for her copperplate engravings. However, it has been shown that they are in fact very carefully executed gouache paintings based on reprints of the plates from the Caterpillar Book. They were certainly intended for wealthy buyers.