Maria Martin

Maria (/mɝˈaɪə/ mah-RYE-uh)[1] Martin Bachman (3 July 1796 – 27 December 1863)[2] of Charleston, South Carolina, was an American watercolor painter and scientific illustrator.

[4] Maria Martin Bachman was born July 6, 1796, in Charleston, South Carolina just two and half weeks after the “Great Fire of 1796” that destroyed many of the buildings and houses in the center of the city.

[5] When Martin was 17 years old her father Jacob left the family to relocate to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with his mistress.

[5] Martin accompanied her brother-in-law, John Bachman, on several field excursions, including one trip to Niagara Falls, and learned how to make scientific descriptions and drawings of plants and animals.

[12] Martin also provided illustrations to John Edwards Holbrook for publication in his work North American Herpetology.

Martin dedicated her life to the Bachman family ensuring the household maintained order while her sister remained bedridden and dying from consumption.

The website acknowledges Martin as being known for her paintings of the detailed natural habitats in Audubon's works, as well as her "combination of scientific accuracy and artistic judgement.

Illustration of Coluber elapsoides by Maria Martin as published in North American Herpetology [ 6 ]