Abraham Mignon
Marrel's stepdaughter Maria Sibylla Merian (1647–1717), daughter of the engraver Matthew Merian, who lived with Marrel and thus studied with Mignon, achieved distinction as a flower painter. Besides Merian, his other pupil was Ernst Stuven. He left two daughters when he died; Catharina and Anna.
Maria Sibylla Merian
"Metamorphosis" and the tropical ants Merian documented were cited by the scientists René Antoine, August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, Mark Catesby and George Edwards. Few colour images of the "New World" were printed before 1700 and thus Merian's "Metamorphosis" has been credited with influencing a range of naturalist illustrators. Merian also documented the medicinal use of plants and animals by the people of Surinam. She documented among others that the sap from a palm was used rubbed into itchy scalps to treat worm infections. Merian also took an interest in agriculture and among the local fruit she showcased was the pineapple. When describing the pineapple Merian cited several standard works on natural history, which had first documented the fruit, such as "Historia Naturalis Brasilae" by Willem Piso and Georg Marggraf, "Hortus Malabaricus" by Hendrik van Rheede, and "Medici Amstelodamensis" by Caspar Commelin. While the pineapple had been drawn before, Merian's went on to become the most prominent. She called the pineapple by its local name "annanas", and provided information on how the butterflies and cockroaches affected crops and agriculture in the colony. While documenting the botany of Surinam, Merian stayed true to her method of recording the metamorphosis of insects. Surinam's insects were shown throughout their entire life cycle and on their plant host.