![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)
Pomegranate and Menelaus Blue Morpho Butterfly
1702-03RCIN 921162
Here, Merian shows the caterpillar of the Banded Sphinx Moth (Bumorpha fasciata) with a Menelaus Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho menelaus). Merian was delighted with the beauty of the butterfly. She described its wings as ‘wonderfully glossy’ and tried to capture this effect by using silver paint.