In 1771 a collection of Madame Merian’s works was published in Paris, translated into French; and to this day are to be seen engravings, nearly of the size of the original, of the various paintings made by this enthusiastic woman of objects that struck her fancy--caterpillars, butterflies, spiders, snakes, and various kinds of animals and plants--executed with all the luxury of brilliant coloring, and illustrated by choice poetry. Her great work was entitled “History of the Insects of Europe, drawn from Nature, and explained, by Maria Sibylla Merian.” It included a treatise on the generation and metamorphoses of insects, and the plants on which they feed. Her pictures were not only executed with fidelity, but each insect appeared in its first state with the most pleasing accompaniments. With those metamorphosed from the chrysalis or nymph to the fly or butterfly, were presented the plants and flowers they loved, all correctly and tastefully delineated. Even after the appearance of her work, in 1705, the persevering artist continued her studies in natural history, in which she was joined by both her daughters, whom she had educated to pursuits of art. Dorothea, the youngest, had accompanied her to Surinam, while the eldest, Joanna Maria Helena, came afterward with her husband, a merchant of Amsterdam, to assist her mother in collecting and painting specimens. It was the mother’s intention to publish the pictures made by her daughters in an appendix to her own collected works; but her death, which occurred in January, 1717, prevented this, and the daughters afterward published the results of their labors in a separate volume. This extraordinary woman, whose labors contributed so much to the improvement and embellishment of the natural history of insects, was little favored by gifts of beauty or personal grace. Her portrait shows hard and heavy-lined features. A curious headdress, made of folds of black stuff, rises high above the head, and inclines a little to the left. Short, light curls appear above a cambric ruffle, finishing a half-low corsage. She is undoubtedly entitled to a place among great artists. The history of Madame Merian rounds off that of German female artists belonging to the seventeenth century with an exhibition of more than ordinary interest. THE DANISH WOMEN ARTISTS. A glimpse may here be had of the artists of Denmark and England. Anna Crabbe was a painter by profession in Copenhagen before the year 1618. She painted a series of portraits of Danish princes, to which she added a poetical description of each. The daughter of King Christian IV., Eleonora Christina, who married the minister Ulefeld, was not only celebrated for her beauty and intellectual gifts, but for skill in various branches of art--engraving, modeling in wax, and miniature-painting. Her daughter Helena Christina possessed like talents.