While contemporary people may tend to view flowers as primarily aesthetic objects, for thousand of years, artists have used flowers as a visual language to convey certain messages or emotions in their art. Yet even outside of the art world, people have created a botanical language by attributing specific meanings and values to flowers. For example, roses have great symbolic significance in American culture. Red roses are considered to be romantic, especially when they are given to someone on Valentine’s Day, and white roses are often associated with weddings. Arriving to a date with a bouquet of lilies would send a much different message than a bouquet of dandelions or poison ivy because of the unspoken language surrounding flowers.
This exhibit explores the use of botanical symbolism in Western art from the 15th century to the 21st century. These pieces will survey a variety of botanical depictions and their subsequent interpretations in art, ranging from representational pieces that allow for very limited interpretations to abstracted florals that invite the viewer to explore personal ideas. Many of the earlier pieces in this exhibition, specifically those dated around the 15th to early 19th century, treat floral language as a sort of code, where a plant can be directly translated from a visual symbol into a specific meaning. Contemporary artists tend to be less literal in their use of floral symbolism, allowing more space for the viewer to bring their own perspective and interpretation to the piece. These pieces call into question the role of botanical language in its relationship with the artist and the viewer: How do artists use flowers to express the underlying emotions behind a piece? Should this botanical language be used as a strict translation or as a fluid, subjective conversation between the viewer and the artist?
Flowers as the Passion of Christ
ca. 1470
Tempera on panel, 26.4” × 18.1”
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Religious art frequently uses symbolic language to visually communicate spiritual truths. During the 15th century, creators of religious art often used red flowers to symbolize the sacrifice of Christ. For example, because red roses have five petals, some artists integrated the flower into their design as a symbol of each of the five wounds Christ endured on the cross. Additionally, the use of red carnations would have been associated with the foreshadowing of Christ’s crucifixion and symbolic of Mary’s love for him. In this 15th century painting, Madonna and Child, the artist uses this technique of botanical symbolism in the floral backdrop behind the figures. Red carnations interlock with shades of dark pink, white, and black-green to create a lattice against a light blue sky. As the flowers extend upwards behind the figures, there is a gradation from thorns, to red flowers, to white flowers and buds. This may represent or foreshadow the way that Christ cleanses and renews through his blood shed on the cross. The thorns, located near the bottom of the piece, remind the viewer of the crown of thorns worn by Christ during his crucifixion. The budding flowers near the top of the piece perhaps serve as a symbol of new life, a theme closely linked to the Passion narrative.
Flowers as Romanticized Death
John Everett Millais, Ophelia
1851–52
Oil on canvas, 30” × 44”
Tate Britain
“There is a willow grows aslant a brook,
That shows his hoar leaves in the glassy stream;
Therewith fantastic garlands did she come
Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples
That liberal shepherds give a grosser name,
But our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them:
There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds
Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;
When down the weedy trophies and herself
Fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide;
And, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up:
Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes;
As one incapable of her own distress,
Or like a creature native and indued
Unto that element: but long it could not be
Till that her garments, heavy with her drink,
Pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious buy
To muddy death.”
Hamlet, Act IV, scene vii.
In this Victorian era piece, John Everett Millais presents us with a bouquet of romantic, floral symbolism plucked out of a scene from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The painting depicts Act IV, scene vii of the play: grieved to the point of madness, Ophelia adorns herself with flowers as an expression of her sorrow, just before drowning herself in the river. Millais skillfully uses the flowers to play a narrative role in the scene and to reveal details about Ophelia’s character. During the play, Ophelia’s brother Laertes calls her “rose of May”, which may explain the inclusion of small roses near her cheek and skirt. The pansies floating beside her refer to love in vain. The willow, nettle and daisy, all seen dispersed throughout the piece, are associated with forsaken love, pain, and innocence. The violets, worn in a chain around her neck, have multiple layers of meaning: violets can symbolize faithfulness, chastity, or death of the young, all of which may be applied to this scene. These themes are reinforced by the forget-me-nots floating in the water and the poppy, which is a symbol of death. Through Millais’ intentional use of flowers, the artist creates a poetic visual language that, when translated, reinforces Shakespeare’s romanticization of Ophelia’s untimely death.
The Thistle as a Symbol of Devotion
Albrecht Dürer, Portrait of the Artist Holding a Thistle
1493
Oil on vellum (transferred to canvas c. 1840), 22.2” × 17.5”
Louvre
In this 15th century self portrait, Albrecht Dürer carefully chooses to depict himself holding an eryngium amethystinum, a plant closely resembling a thistle (hence, the reference to a thistle in the piece’s title). In German, which was Dürer’s native language, this plant is called a "Mannestreue", which translates to “conjugal fidelity.” This bears significance because it indicates that this piece was likely painted as a betrothal portrait to his future wife, Anges Frey. The couple married on July 7 of 1494, which likely means that they would have been engaged in 1493, the year this portrait was created. The artist gently holds the budding plant between his finger tips, as if he is about to release it to his future bride as a symbol of his devotion to her. The thistle is also considered to have aphrodisiacal properties, further suggesting that this piece has symbolic meaning tied to the theme of marriage.
Flowers as a Symbol of Heritage
Kehinde Wiley, President Barack Obama
2018
Oil on canvas, 84.1” × 58”
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
In this 2018 portrait of former president Barack Obama, artist Kehinde Wiley uses flowers to express that President Obama has not lost touch with or respect for the people and places that raised him. Many of the various flowers in this piece represent a place of personal significance to the president. The jasmine serves a symbol of Hawaii, the president’s birthplace and where he lived for most of his childhood. The official flower of Chicago, the chrysanthemum, can be seen throughout this piece as well. This serves as a reminder of the president’s time teaching, campaigning, and working in politics in Chicago. African blue lilies pay tribute to his late father, who was from Kenya. The bright green leaves forming a sort of hedge behind the president are perhaps reminiscent of the leaves of a family tree, tying together all of the places symbolized by these flowers. Through the use of these flowers and leaves, Wiley paints a portrait that displays a president who exudes strength, not only through his strength as an individual, but through the support of his heritage.
Flower as Sexual Reproduction
Frida Kahlo, La Flor de la Vida (The Flower of Life)
1944
Oil on masonite, 77.95” × 114.2”
Museo Dolores Olmedo
In this piece titled La Flor de la Vida (translated from Spanish to The Flower of Life), Frida Kahlo abstracts her strained relationship with fertility into the form of an abstract flower. Due to a bus accident at the age of 18, Kahlo was left unable to bear children. When it was clear that she would not be able to carry her first pregnancy, she had to get an abortion. A few years later, she miscarried a second pregnancy. The pain of not being able to bear children affected her deeply and became the subject of many of her pieces. This piece approaches the topic defiantly, choosing to portray the male and female sexual organs at the moment of coitus using botanical imagery. The flower is most similar to a fiery, red-orange daffodil or hibiscus, with two additional arms branching out from the top that perhaps represent ovaries. Golden lines springing from the top of the flower closely resemble stamens (the male reproductive part of a flower) and likely represent sperm. The sphere in the upper righthand corner had been interpreted as both a sun and the ovule awaiting fertilization. Kahlo transforms the flower into an abstract symbol that is concrete enough to maintain its personal significance, yet ambiguous enough to be open to interpretation.
Flowers as Spiritual Curiosity
Odilon Redon, Pandora
ca. 1914
Oil on canvas, 56.5” x 24.5”
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Around 1860, twenty year old Odilon Redon met Armand Clavaud, a botanist who opened the artist’s eyes to the world of science. In addition to his mentorship in botanical drawings, Clavaud introduced Redon to pantheism, Eastern philosophy, and Buddhist spirituality. Later in Redon’s career, after the death of his friend, the artist began using botanical imagery as a symbol of this spiritual curiosity and mankind's potential for enlightenment. He would use this influence while producing this mythological inspired 1914 painting, Pandora. Redon demonstrates that by freeing himself from the constraints of painting a flower representationally, he could use the abstracted form as a tool to express complex, spiritual questions. Redon paints familiar, plantlike silhouettes using bright, floral colors. From a distance, these shapes give the impression of representing recognizable flowers. However, with a closer look, it is clear that these plants are not identifiable. These “flowers” find a solace in this mythological scene, suggesting that we too may find solace in our freedom to safely explore our wildest spiritual queries in this world.
