ID: 700008616 Page link: http://vocab.getty.edu/page/cona/700008616	Record Type: Movable Work
Images: 1

Pomegranate and Menelaus Blue Morpho Butterfly (print (visual work); Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717); 1702/1703; British Royal Collection (London, Greater London, England, U...; RCIN 921162)

Note: Illustration of a pomegranate with insects identified as the female Blue Morpho butterflies in dorsal and ventral views, and a Banded Sphinx Moth caterpillar. This is a version of plate 9 in Merian's Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium. This is one of a set of luxury versions of the plates from Merian's Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium, published in Amsterdam in 1705. To make these versions, Merian (probably assisted by her daughters) appears to have inked sections of each etched plate and run it through the press to create a partial print. While the ink of that print was still wet, she placed a sheet of vellum against it, transferring a reverse image onto the vellum. This ‘counterproof’ was then worked up and coloured by hand. The Royal Collection plates are partially printed and partially hand-drawn, the printing mainly being used for the insects. As Merian was only transferring selected areas of the printed image, she could vary the arrangements of the plates, with the positions of the butterflies and moths subtly altered to create unique compositions. In her book, Merian described how the Blue Morpho butterfly was fast-flying and had wings which, when viewed through a magnifying glass, looked like roof tiles. The illustrator may have thought the caterpillar was the same species as the butterflies; she was fascinated by insects and their life cycles, and undertook research into the phenomenon of metamorphosis, which was then only partially understood. She published her findings in a series of books, illustrated with beautifully-composed plates in which each insect life-cycle was illustrated on the appropriate food plant.

Titles:

Pomegranate and Menelaus Blue Morpho Butterfly (preferred,C,U,RP,English-P,U,U)

Catalog Level: item

Work Types:

print (visual work) [300041273] (preferred)

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

painting (visual work) [300033618]

..... (Objects Facet, Visual and Verbal Communication (hierarchy name), Visual Works (hierarchy name), visual works (works), <visual works by material or technique>)

Classifications:

prints (preferred)

paintings

Creation Date: 1702/1703

Creator Display:

Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717) [preferred,VP]

artist Merian, Maria Sibylla (German painter and engraver, 1647-1717) [500009826]

Locations:

Current: British Royal Collection (London, Greater London, England, United Kingdom) [500302083] Corporate Bodies (Corp. Body)

Repository Numbers: RCIN 921162

Address Note: in exhibition, The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace

Display Materials: partially printed and partially hand-drawn; watercolour and bodycolour with gum arabic and silver paint over lightly etched outlines on vellum

	watercolor (paint) [300015045]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, water-base paint)

	gouache (paint) [300070114]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by function>, coating (material), <coating by form>, paint (coating), <paint by composition or origin>, water-base paint)

	gum arabic [300012869]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by composition>, organic material, gum (material))

	vellum (parchment) [300011852]
	.......(Materials Facet, Materials (hierarchy name), materials (substances), <materials by origin>, biological material, animal material, processed animal material, parchment (animal material))

	printing (process) [300053319]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <printing and printing processes and techniques>)

	drawing (image-making) [300054196]
	.......(Activities Facet, Processes and Techniques (hierarchy name), <processes and techniques by specific type>, <image-making processes and techniques>, <drawing and drawing techniques>)

Dimensions: 37.16 x 30.16 cm (14 5/8 x 11 7/8 inches)

Cultures:

British (preferred)

General Subject:

animals (preferred,description)

botanical (description)

Specific Subjects:

	butterflies (Papilionoidea superfamily) [300310614]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Arthropoda (phylum), Hexapoda (subphylum), Insecta (class), Lepidoptera (order)) (AAT)

	pomegranate (fruit) [300379961]
	.....(Objects Facet, Components (hierarchy name), components (objects parts), <components by specific context>, biological components, plant components, fruit, fleshy fruit, pomes) (AAT)

	Morpho menelaus (species) [300404814]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Arthropoda (phylum), Hexapoda (subphylum), Insecta (class), Lepidoptera (order), Papilionoidea (superfamily), Nymphalidae (family), Morphinae (subfamily), Morphini (tribe), Morpho (genus)) (AAT)

	Punica granatum (species) [300400483]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Plantae (kingdom), Angiospermae (division), Magnoliopsida (class), Rosanae (superorder), Myrtales (order), Lythraceae (family), Punica (genus)) (AAT)

	Eumorpha fasciatus (species) [300404817]
	.....(Agents Facet, Living Organisms (hierarchy name), living organisms (entities), Eukaryota (domain), Animalia (kingdom), Arthropoda (phylum), Hexapoda (subphylum), Insecta (class), Lepidoptera (order), Sphingidae (family), Eumorpha (genus)) (AAT)

Provenance: Dr Richard Mead (1673–1754); his sale (London, Abraham Langford, 13–16 January 1755, lot 66), where purchased by an unknown collector; sold 15 June 1768 (London, Paterson and Eve, lot 572), where purchased by Sir John Hill via Wilson; George III by c.1810

List/Hierarchical Position:

..... Movable Works

.......... Movable Works by class: drawings, paintings, prints, other two-dimensional media

..... Conceptual Works

.......... Conceptual Works by class: for movable works

............... Plates for Luxury Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium

Sources and Contributors:
Pomegranate and Menelaus Blue Morpho Butterfly	........ [VP]
	........ Royal Collection Trust [online] (2000-)

Subject: ....... [VP]

Note:
English	..... [VP]
	..... Royal Collection Trust [online] (2000-)