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Agnes Block died this day in 1704. A horticulturist and painter herself, she made her Vijverhof estate a residence for other botanical artists such as Johanna Helena Herolts-Graff, Maria Sibylla Merian, Maria Moninckx, and Alida Withoos.
Born today in 1647, botanical artist Maria Sibylla Merian took an early interest in #entomology. She retained indigenous names for the not-yet-described species she found in Suriname and performed controlled laboratory experiments to investigate caterpillars' plant preferences.