Jacob Marrel was born in
Frankenthal. He moved with his family in 1624 to Frankfurt, where he became a student of
Georg Flegel in 1627. Attracted by the high prices for flower still life paintings, Marrel studied from 1632 to 1650 with
Jan Davidszoon de Heem in
Utrecht (city), before returning to Frankfurt, where he married Johanna Sybilla Heim(ius), the widow of
Matthäus Merian, who died in 1650. He took on students, and his wife's daughter
Maria Sibylla Merian became a renowned painter of flowers and insects, rivalling
Rachel Ruysch as a female artist. She later married one of his pupils,
Johann Andreas Graff, in 1665, after a 6-year tour he made to Venice and Rome upon completion of his studies under Marrel. He was active as an art dealer in Utrecht until 1669. He died in
Frankfurt. He signed his work with
Jacobus Marrellus Fecit. ==References==