Convolvulus and Metamorphosis of the Convolvulus Hawk Moth (c. 1670–90): Art, History and Details

Convolvulus and Metamorphosis of the Convolvulus Hawk Moth (c. 1670–90) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Maria Sibylla Merian (German, active Netherlands, 1647–1717).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The artist Maria Sibylla Merian was one of the most important entomologists of the 17th century. Her studies of caterpillars, which she reared herself, contributed to knowledge of the life cycles of numerous species. Trained as a miniature painter by her stepfather, she combined her artistic talent with her scientific interest, creating images such as this one, which portrays the life cycle of the European pink-spotted hawk moth as well as its favorite food, the morning glory. Merian added additional caterpillar species to the sheet to create a pleasing and astonishingly detailed composition.

Object facts

• Title: Convolvulus and Metamorphosis of the Convolvulus Hawk Moth
• Date: c. 1670–90
• Creator attribution: Maria Sibylla Merian (German, active Netherlands, 1647–1717)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: watercolor with touches of opaque watercolor over indications in black chalk or graphite on vellum
• Dimensions: Support: 41 x 54.7 x 0.2 cm (16 1/8 x 21 9/16 x 1/16 in.); Image: 28.9 x 37.2 cm (11 3/8 x 14 5/8 in.)
• Collection: DR - Swiss
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2019.9

A detail from the museum

The artist who drew this life cycle of the European pink-spotted hawk moth from egg through caterpillar, pupa, and adult insect reared caterpillars in her home for 10 years before writing and illustrating a definitive text on metamorphosis.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Reitsma, Ella, and Sandrine A. Ulenberg. Maria Sibylla Merian & Daughters: Women of Art and Science. Amsterdam: Rembrandt House Museum, 2008.
• Peters, Emily. “Acquisitions 2019: Drawings.” Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 60, no. 2 (March/April 2020): 20-21.
• Griswold, William M. “Recent Acquisitions (2013-20) at the Cleveland Museum of Art.” Burlington Magazine 163, no. 1414 (January 2021): 93-104.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.