Still life with a Bee-eater perched a branch arranged in a Delft bowl with cherries, pears, apples, peaches and figs

Although better known for her more scientific drawings (see the previous lot in this sale), the present work shows Maria Sibylla Merian's mastery of the still life tradition, not least in its close relationship with compositions by artists such as Giovanna Garzoni (1600-1670). A similarly arranged Still life with fruit is in a private collection (K. Wettengl, ed., Maria Sibylla Merian, 1647-1717, Artist and Naturalist, Frankfurt, 1998, p. 75. fig. 41).