Sibylle von Olfers I

 

Illustrations by Sibylle von Olfers (1881–1916) for Etwas von den Wurzelkindern  "When the root children wake up" (1906). 

Sibylle lived a short but very productive life dying at just 34 years old from a lung infection. Sibylle was born Maria Regina Angela Hedwig Sibylla von Olfers in the Castle of Metgethen near Königsberg, Prussia, one of five children to an aristocratic family. Her childhood was quite idilic she was encouraged in her creativity, tutored and closely supported by her loving family. Sibylle read extensively, the turn of the century across Europe was one of industrialisation and turbulence, but it was met with contemporary artistic movements that emphasised and celebrated organic form, decorative motifs, and harmony between art and nature. At age 25, she joined an order of nuns called the Sisters of Saint Elizabeth, and took the name Sister Maria Aloysia. She taught art in a Catholic primary school, and wrote, blending fine art with a love of the natural world to create the illustration in her children's books.