300 years of “baton of passion”-Fascinated by insect painter Merian November 25, 19:02

When I opened a large, aged leather-bound book, the jungle of South America spread out before me.

A large morpho butterfly that glows blue, a long-legged longhorn beetle, a large caterpillar and a lizard that seem to move at any moment.

It was hard to believe that this richly colored illustration drawn in hand-colored etching was from 300 years ago.

The author is Maria Sibylla Merian.

She is a well-known female artist in Europe and America.

There are people who were fascinated by her and tried to publish a complete reprint of her masterpiece in Japanese.

Introducing the “passionate baton” connected by insect lovers across 300 years of time and space.

(Motoki Saito, Network News Department)

Author Profile Called “Chocho Reporter”

Insect Painter Merian's Passion

1699, about 320 years ago.

It is a story of the era of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, the 5th shogun of the Edo Shogunate, who is known in Japan for the "Edict of Mercy for Living Things."

A 50-year-old woman was boarding a sailing ship sailing from Holland to South America with her daughter.

The destination was Suriname, which was a Dutch colony at the time.

Settlers cleared the jungle to run sugar cane plantations, but the harsh environment right on the equator was described as a 'fiery green hell'.

Why did this woman put herself in such a harsh environment?

She said the reason was that she wanted to see nature centered on insects.

The woman's name is Maria Sibylla Merian.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, she is a female artist active in the Netherlands.

Since her childhood, she has been fascinated by insects, finding larvae in the wild and observing their metamorphosis process.

Her highly detailed insect paintings have been highly acclaimed.

At that time, the Netherlands was managing colonies abroad, so many beautiful animals were sent from there.

Merian was fascinated by the different appearance and diversity of insects she had seen in Europe.

However, over time, her specimens were no longer enough.

Her Merian wanted to see how various insects change shape from egg to adult.

Merian

: I was surprised to find out how beautiful animals they bring from the East and West Indies in Holland....I also saw many people's collections. , I could not see the process of development and reproduction of those insects.

Risky Voyage, Observation and Research

Merian finally decided to go there and see the insects with his own eyes.

At that time, the means of transportation and communication were not as developed as they are today.

It was a life-threatening voyage for him to cross from Holland to Suriname, but he finally landed in Suriname.

Merian stayed there with her daughter for two years.

Guided by locals, she ventured into the jungle, collected insects that caught her eye, brought them home, raised them, and sketched them.

She was reportedly ridiculed at times for the incomprehensibility of Merian, who devoted herself to her fruitless research, to the colonists who were interested in managing sugar plantations.

For Merian, who was over 50 years old, judging from her life expectancy at the time, the tropical climate, which was so different from the cool climate of Europe where she had lived for many years, had a strong effect on her body.

Even so, he ventures into the forest to find insects, brings them home, raises them, observes them in detail, and sketches them.

In the harsh environment, it was two years that I just kept burning with my passion for insects.

Merian, who returned to Holland after his stay, compiled the results of his hardships in observation and research in Suriname into 60 colored etchings, and published them in 1705 as the luxurious book Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium. will publish in

This chart was very well received and a reprint was desired, but Merian himself died in 1717 at the age of 69 without seeing it.

After his death, the second and third editions were published in 1719 and 1726, respectively, with additional illustrations.

Bringing insect paintings to the realm of art

Let's take a look at one of the illustrations.

This is a drawing of a moth that has hatched from a large caterpillar on a grape.

It is a species of hawkmoth that has a thick body and powerfully flies around in search of nectar, but two different species are clearly drawn.

Each larva, pupae and adult are beautifully arranged in one picture with grapes.

It's not easy to adequately express this magnificence.

First, let's consider the historical background of the time.

According to experts, at that time insects were believed to be spontaneously generated from carrion and excrement, and it would be strange if a woman who raised and observed insects would be persecuted as a "witch" or even executed. It seems that it was an era when it was not.

Speaking of 1705 when the first edition of `` Suriname Insect Metamorphosis Map '' was published, it has been 30 years since Carl von Linnaeus, also known as the father of the academic discipline `` taxonomy '' that names animals and plants, published `` System of Nature ''. It was 150 years ago, when Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution in "The Origin of Species."

At a time when the field of entomology had not yet been established, it is surprising that he used accurate sketches to depict the morphology of insects, recording in detail their ecology from eggs to larvae to pupae to adults.

In addition to its academic value, we cannot overlook the compositional power and skillful placement of the process of insect metamorphosis in a single picture, and the fact that he has elevated insect painting to the realm of art.

Merian is well known in Western countries, and continues to be honored without being forgotten even after 300 years.

In Germany, where he was born, Merian is used on stamps and banknotes, and many streets and schools in various cities are named after Merian.

In 2017, 300 years after his death, the Royal Library of the Netherlands and the University of Amsterdam jointly published a reprint of the first edition of "Suriname Insect Metamorphosis".

Merian's achievements continue to shine brilliantly without being scraped by the time file of 300 years.

A Natural History Buff's Passion

Human passion seems to blaze with unimaginable intensity at times.

There is a person in Tochigi who has achieved a half-great ambition to personally obtain the original of Merian's masterpiece, "Suriname Insect Metamorphosis".

Yuji Shiraishi (77).

Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by butterflies, and I have traveled to more than 30 countries in pursuit of butterflies while I am extremely busy running a company.

He was so into it that he jointly established a museum with his friends in Manaus, a city in the middle reaches of the Amazon River in Brazil.

While pursuing butterflies as living creatures, Mr. Shiraishi gradually became fascinated by books from the era of natural history from the 17th century to the 20th century.

In an era when there were no photographs, the illustrations, which were created by craftsmen with the best techniques to accurately reproduce the figure on paper, are truly works of art.

Mr. Yuji Shiraishi

``Ever since I was active in chasing butterflies in the jungles of Asia and the Amazon, I have been interested in collecting and looking through encyclopedias of the past and present. It left a particularly strong impression on me, but I thought I would never be able to own it.”

Get the original The price is…

A trip chasing butterflies in the jungles of the world turned into a trip to search for a phantom book in the forest of books.

One day, I finally got a copy of Merian's pictorial music that was being sold at a bargain.

Surprised by the high degree of perfection, Mr. Shiraishi became even more passionate about obtaining the original.

I have made every effort to search through second-hand bookstores for any overseas offerings.

However, it is a phantom book that the original is barely stored in famous museums and libraries around the world, such as the British Museum, the Smithsonian Museum, and the Paris Museum of Natural History.

There is probably no first edition in Japan, and the National Diet Library has the second edition published in 1719, and the Tokyo National Museum has the third edition published in 1726.

The search lasted for several years, but about 40 years ago, news came that an English aristocrat had finally let it go.

At that time, the value of the pound was slightly declining, and Mr. Shiraishi was able to fulfill his long-cherished wish.

But he was tight-lipped and wouldn't tell me how much he got it for.

The Power of the Original “As Seen”

The third edition, dated 1726, is available and is in surprisingly good condition.

Later, Mr. Shiraishi had the opportunity to pick up the original manuscript that was in the collection of Peter the Great at the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, Russia. The original is in much better condition,” he said with a smile.

Mr. Shiraishi who obtained Merian's masterpiece.

I made a custom-made paulownia box that fits the size of the book perfectly, and kept it as a family heirloom.

One day in November, I received special permission to see the original at Mr. Shiraishi's home.

Wearing gloves, I take the book out of the paulownia box and open it with great care.

Of course, I (reporter) was too afraid to even touch it, so I just held my breath and watched over Mr. Shiraishi as he turned the pages.

A vivid illustration jumped into my eyes that I could not believe it was 300 years ago.

Some of the illustrations were introduced in books, so I already knew about them, but the brilliance of the real thing can only be described as exceptional.

Insects, plants, and reptiles living in the Surinamese jungle that Merian saw with his own eyes were recreated in near-life size.

Merian was particularly interested in the metamorphosis, in which insects transform from eggs to larvae, pupae, and then to adults. remain.

The larvae are so lively that they seem to start moving on paper at any moment.

Shiraishi, who obtained the long-awaited illustrated book of Merian, eventually began to ask himself whether he should be enjoying such a rare masterpiece by himself.

Mr. Yuji Shiraishi:

"This is a true cultural heritage, and I just happen to be entrusted with it. It's not something you see alone in the middle of the night grinning. I honestly thought I had to make it visible."

I wondered if I could somehow translate it into Japanese and publish a complete reprint, but I don't have the skills to translate a text written in Dutch and Latin 300 years ago.

An old friend brought good news to Mr. Shiraishi.

When he visited Europe, he obtained a German translation of the "Suriname Insect Metamorphosis Chart".

If it's in German, there was someone who took over the translation.

The person who receives the baton of passion from Mr. Shiraishi is the protagonist of the next chapter.

The Passion of an Old German Writer

Asao Okada, professor emeritus at Toyo University.

A German literary scholar who turned 87 this November.

Mr. Okada is also a passionate insect lover.

I am sure many of you reading this article remember reading "Memories of a Boy's Day" by Hermann Hesse in a Japanese language textbook in junior high school.

The story of a boy who is fascinated by collecting insects and steals from his friend's collection a specimen of a moth called the peafowl that he desperately wants and destroys it leaves a strong impression on me.

Mr. Okada has not only translated many of Hesse's works, but he has also made use of his knowledge of insects to accurately identify the species of insects that appear in his works and propose new Japanese translations. known as people.

It is not easy to translate Merian's masterpiece "Suriname Insect Metamorphosis" into Japanese.

Merely being able to speak the language is not enough, and without knowledge of the illustrated insects, it is impossible to reproduce them accurately.

Mr. Okada, who is well versed in both languages ​​and insects, was an indispensable and valuable person for translation.

However, Mr. Okada is also an elderly person.

I approached it with the spirit that "this will be the last job for me."

He started working on the translation based on the German version obtained by an old friend of his, but immediately ran into difficulties.

Struggling with translation

In this German text, Merian's own writing and another botanist's writing, with the same typeface, were seamlessly intermingled.

Careful judgment was required as to whether the German "I" refers to Merian or to the botanist.

In the original, the botanist's description was printed in italics and was properly distinguished, but for some reason the German translation did not make that distinction.

Mr. Okada translated Merian's description in the "desu-masu" tone and the botanist's description in the "desu-aru" tone, clearly distinguishing between them.

In addition, the text frequently contained scientific names of plants that are no longer in use, so I spent a great deal of effort deciphering them.

Also, it took a lot of effort to convert the currency of the time mentioned in the text to the current monetary value.

The ending is the text of 12 illustrations that were not included in the first edition but were added to the second and third editions.

I couldn't get a German translation for this, so I decided to translate it from French.

Daisaburo Okumoto, a French literary scholar who loves insects, took on the task of translating this book.

The translation work of "Surinamese Insect Metamorphosis Map", which Mr. Okada took on the challenge of mobilizing the network of acquaintances he had cultivated over many years, was worthy of being called a major project.

Mr. Okada says that through the translation, he realized once again how great Merian was.

Mr. Asao Okada:

“The translation was a struggle, but I enjoyed it. At a time when entomology was still underdeveloped, a woman observed the ecology of insects in such detail, and then completed it with colored etching. What I was able to draw is truly miraculous.”

Passing on the baton of passion

Not only the translation of the text, but also the reproduction of the colors of the important illustrations was a challenge.

A studio was rented for two days, and a professional photographer took pictures of the original illustrations one by one.

He said that he even had to reshoot the whole thing because the colors weren't reproduced accurately.

It was a series of such hardships, but after five years of planning, the complete reprint of the "Suriname Insect Metamorphosis Chart" was finally completed.

The size is the same as the original, and the colors of the illustrations have been carefully reproduced.

The text is written in both Japanese and English.

Over 300 years and the vast distance between East and West, the insect lover took over the baton of passion.

Mr. Shiraishi, who supervised the production, donated this reprint to all 47 prefectural libraries and museums nationwide, hoping that many people would pick it up.

Anyone can pick up and see the phantom masterpiece if the facility that receives it registers it as a collection and makes it open to the public.

Mr. Yuji Shiraishi:

“Although I felt like I was going to get frustrated many times, I am grateful that everyone cooperated in realizing my long-cherished dream. The wonderful picture book she left behind is the most persuasive when it comes to touching on the humanity of Merian, who stared at insects and discovered how they metamorphosed.

Postscript - In the sea of ​​information

We live in modern times, and we are in the ocean where a huge amount of information is flying every day.

We live in an age when the word “taipa” (abbreviation for time performance) comes in handy when we want to use our limited time as efficiently as possible.

Under such circumstances, I think that Merian's pictorial music, which was created with a huge amount of time and effort, and this project, which is a complete reproduction of it, may be exactly the opposite of "Taipa".

However, there is no doubt that it is the sincere passion of the people who devote themselves to such activities that has created the brilliance that has not faded for 300 years.

From the vivid illustrations, I could certainly sense the insects living in the Surinamese jungle and the breathing of Merian who challenged to depict them with overflowing passion.

Network News Dept. Desk

Motoki Saito Although

I am not as good as everyone in the article, I love insects

.