![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)
MARIA SIBYLLA MERIAN (1647-1717)
Branch of Pomelo with Green-Banded Urania Moth
1702-03RCIN 921148
The beautiful Green-Banded Urania Moth (Urania leilus) flies during the day. Merian noted that they fly ‘very fast and high’ and she was therefore only able to catch the caterpillars. Here she uses gold paint to capture the iridescence of the moth’s wings, which she described as ‘gleaming’.