Visionaria Botanica: the Exquisite Botanical Illustrations of Maria Sibylla Merian
A celebration of the work by 17th century illustrator, Maria Sibylla Merian, this exhibit invites all of us to slow down and observe the intricacies of the natural world around us. You might just observe something brand new to science!
About the Curator
Lilly Linden is a STEM librarian at the Dartmouth Libraries. She first learnt about Maria Sibylla Merian as a high school student in South India, when she had the opportunity to read the book Chrysalis. After a career as a Herpetologist, Lilly started working in Libraries and revived her interest in using watercolor. Fast-forward to 2020, she joined the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA) and the Botanical Artists guild of Southern California (BAGSC) and discovered her passion for botanical illustration. In the fall of 2022, Lilly first visited the greenhouse at Dartmouth and was smitten by the richness of its living orchid collections and was inspired to paint orchids. This exhibit is an attempt to share her admiration of Maria’s body of illustration with the Dartmouth community. Lilly hopes that Dartmouth community members will indulge in observing nature around them, or visit the Dartmouth Greenhouse and capture what they observe in a medium of their choice.
The content is drawn from a physical exhibit on display in Berry Main Street in Fall of 2024 in the Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College.
Thank you: Dartmouth Libraries Head of Teaching & Learning, Laura Barrett; Exhibit Designer, Dennis Grady; Digital Library Fellow, Daniel Lin ’23; Metadata support, Rachel Starr