Maria Sibylla Merian (Frankfurt, 1647 – Amsterdam, 1717) was a German naturalist, explorer and painter of Swiss parentage. At that time, due to a surprising law in several German cities that prohibited women from purchasing oil paintings, she learned to paint with watercolour and tempera. She is currently considered to be one of the most important pioneers of modern entomology. She was the first person who, following a scientific method, empirically recorded that insects are born from eggs and are not the result of spontaneous generation.