Floral art... in floral art!
THE Madonna lily (Lilium candidum) is commonly seen in early Christian paintings – often capturing the moment the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that she will conceive the son of God. The lily represents the purity of the Virgin, while the flowers’ golden anthers signify God’s ‘heavenly light’. In other paintings, red roses were often seen to symbolise Christ’s sacrifice, with each of their five petals representing one of Christ’s wounds from the cross.
In 17th-century Holland, when tulips famously became an obsession for the wealthy, still-life paintings flourished. They often featured wilting flowers to symbolise the fleeting nature of life. Dutch painters frequently also depicted vases of fresh flowers, to highlight the floral power of Holland as a nation. These works were almost always artistic fantasies, showing flowers together that would never have been in bloom at the same time.
Botanical illustrations date back to the
1st century BC, when the Greek physician Krateus (Kratos) depicted herbal plants with scientific precision. This artform reached its peak between 1750 and
1850, during the ‘golden age of botanical illustration’. This is when explorers travelled the globe to chronicle every type of bloom; advances in printing allowed their neverbefore-seen plants to be studied and enjoyed back home.