![Half height banner for Maria Merian exhibition, showing a butterfly](https://cmsadmin.rct.uk/sites/default/files/lead_image_half_height/Merian_narrow_exhibition.jpg)
ELEAZAR ALBIN (C. 1680- C. 1742)
A Natural history of English insects
1749RCIN 1057018
Like Merian, Eleazar Albin was both a naturalist and an artist, and based his Natural History of English Insects on careful observation. The influence of Merian’s approach on Albin’s work is clear. In this carefully-composed plate, he shows the life cycle of the Elephant Hawk-Moth (Deilephila elpenor) on the Bedstraw (Gallium) on which it feeds.