May Flowers: A Tour of the ‘Garden’ in the Galleries
By J. Attridge, UMFA communications coordinator (and hay fever victim)
Everyone knows that April showers bring May flowers, but what this phrase forgets to mention is that May flowers also bring hay fever sours! For all my fellow Utahns who will be allergic to the whole state for the next several months, here is a bouquet of floral goodness that won’t make you sneeze. Explore the galleries at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and discover blooms from around the world and across time.
Flowers have a rich history of symbolism. Many cultures throughout the world assign unique meanings to flowers and use them as symbols in artwork. For example, in the Victorian flower language, a rose represents love, while a rhododendron means danger. Of course, sometimes a flower is just a flower, but what hidden meanings can we glean if we look closer at the flowers on view at the UMFA?
Many of the meanings associated with flowers in the Western world today can be traced back to medieval European symbolism. In the European art gallery, a selection of the UMFA’s permanent collection is on view in Sacred and Secular, Real and Imaginary. The works on view are rich with symbolism and include stories of mythology and folklore, stunning views of historic ruins, artful admiration of ancient traditions, and of course, flowers.
According to The Medieval Flower Book by Celia Fisher, Botanical symbolism was deeply interwoven in Christian writings from the medieval period through the Renaissance. More than any other object in the Sacred and Secular gallery, one piece is lush with flowers, Saint John the Baptist by artist Master of Santa María de la Hoz.
In this painting, the central figure, Saint John, is surrounded by what appears to be dandelion, lettuce, dill, coriander, and a raspberry bush. In The Medieval Flower Book, Fisher writes that raspberries and blackberries were planted over the graves of the restless dead, and “the brambles were woven to keep the contents within.” Perhaps the artist included a raspberry bush as a reference to Christ’s resurrection, and the promised resurrection of that of his followers, or perhaps raspberries were added because they were a favorite of the artist or even the family that commissioned this painting.
At the feet of Saint John, what looks like the jagged leaves of wild lettuce and dandelions grow. Throughout history, these plants had many medicinal purposes primarily to soothe, as did plants like dill and coriander which can also be seen sprouting in the painting. Dill and coriander were used for pain relief by the Romans. Perhaps the artist, chose these plants specifically to evoke these feelings of comfort and hope. There is no way to know for sure, but it is interesting to consider why the artist chose these particular plants.
What other plants do you see in the background? What does this botanical combination mean to you?
Another piece in the Sacred and Secular gallery features botanical symbolism, not in the painting itself, but in the frame. The Death of Saint Joseph by Francesco Solimena is framed by lush, gilded grapes and curling vines. Grapevines were a common sight in medieval Europe— “carved into churches and painted in the margins of manuscripts.” (Fisher, The Medieval Flower Book, Page 26) It became so common that the designs came to be known as vignettes! But why vines? What is the significance? The vine has been an important emblem of Jesus Christ since the early history of Christian theology. The connection comes from Christ’s words in the John 15, “I am the vine, ye are the branches.”
Another painting in the European art gallery, and one down the corridor in the portrait hall offer a wealth of roses. Allegory of Prudence, and Princess Erdokia Ivanovna Golitsaya as Flora both include roses, specifically pink ones.
Roses have a special place in floral symbolism. They have a near universal recognition as a symbol of love. In ancient Greece, they were associated with the goddess Aphrodite. (Fisher, The Medieval Flower Book, Page 106-107.) In the Victorian flower language roses also meant love, and different colors and presentations added additional meanings. For example, a red rose meant beauty and full white roses sent the message, “I am worthy of you.”
Jean-Honoré Fragonard’s light palette, loose brushwork, and Rococo style lends an airy lightness to the pink roses surrounding the subject in the Allegory of Prudence. Fragonard painted Allegory of Prudence with the intention of presenting it side-by-side with two other allegorical figures, Force and Vigilance. The Allegory of Vigilance, in the collection of The Met, also features pink roses, though far fewer, only adorning the figure’s hair. While there is no painting specifically named as the allegory of force, The Goddess Minerva, painted the same year as the two allegories, likely represents force and the third sister in the trio. In this painting, Minerva wears a plumed golden helmet, carries a shield, but wears no roses. What might it say about the artist’s intention that The Goddess Minerva has no roses compared to the other two?
The roses in Elisabeth Louise Vigée-Lebrun’s Princess Erdokia Ivanovna Golitsaya as Flora likely serve a different purpose. They aren’t meant to represent a feeling or virtue, instead they signal the sitter’s identity, or rather the identity she is taking on through costume.
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The sitter for this portrait, the Russian Princess Evdokia, is dressed up as Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and spring. In addition to the basket of white and pink roses on the figure’s head she also holds an olive branch, a symbol for peace which would have been understood both in Princess Erdokia’s time, and in the time the Roman goddess would have been widely worshiped. Beyond the painting, there are sculptural flowers, berries, and leaves sprouting from the frame and into our physical world. In effect, transforming Princess Erdokia in the eyes of the viewer from a mortal into a goddess, in the same way the mythological Flora was transformed by the wind god Zephyr.
Our last stop in the European art gallery is the beautiful Floral Still Life by Flemish painter Frans Ijkens. This bouquet includes tulips, irises, roses, and carnations, and even a little white-winged butterfly! In the sixteenth century, the Dutch and Flemish had begun importing the tulip from Turkey. By the time Ijkens put paint to panel for this work, tulips had become a luxury item in such great demand that people paid exorbitant amounts for bulbs during a period now known as “Tulipmania.” In this context, the already luxurious looking bouquet may have had an added meaning to viewers, the tulips representing wealth and prosperity.
In the West and East Asian art gallery you’ll find a beautiful video work by Taiwanese artist Wu Chi-Tsung. As you watch, the mist gradually conceals and reveals yellow Mai flowers. These flowers have significance in Vietnamize legend, the Mai flower gets its name from a story about a young warrior/ heroine, Mai. But Wu Chi-Tsung’s inspiration came from painting.
“These works are inspired by a cherished memory of painting; however, the mourning over this lost memory might not be limited to painting only. Some nameless emptions and memories unconsciously and slowly dissipate until, to our surprise, they are far away and cloaked by a white mist, their appearances obscured. During the process of creating these works, I felt a slight sense of guilt, as if creating painting so pleasing to the eye would be a betrayal of Eastern aesthetic pursuits and an act of despair. After all, this is just art that seeks to please the eyes, while contemporary art seeks to emphasize the concepts of innovation and subversion…..we find ourselves continuously severing nourishment and comfort from our memories and cultural roots because we feel inferior, we wish only to become someone else. When we look back at those distant moods, they are still so moving; however their beauty have long become foreign.”
–Wu Chi-Tsung
Flowers aren’t only found in the 2D art on view, they can also be found on ceramics. You’ll find beautiful botanical ceramic objects throughout the Museum. There are jars, dishware, sculptures, and more! Many of them are adorned with botanical beauties. In the West and East Asian art gallery, a İznik tile panel from the Ottoman period touts vines, and lotus blossoms. Ottoman artists added jagged-edged leaves to floral imagery creating a new motif. They called these leaves saz or “enchanted forest.”
Ceramic tiles like these would combine with dozens of other tiles to create a virtual garden of cobalt blue, turquoise, and red designs. The garden is a poignant symbol in Islamic art as it recalls Qur’anic descriptions of heaven.
In a “treasure cabinet” on the other side of the West and East Asian art gallery you’ll find incredible porcelain objects made for a Chinese Imperial household. An Imperial Month Cup on the second shelf is decorated with delicate roses and a poem based on Tang Dynasty writings about roses. This type of cup traditionally comes in sets of twelve with specific flower decoration corresponding to the lunar months, and poetry about the values associate with them.
This Imperial Month Cup with rose decoration is for the fourth lunar month and has a poem on the back that translates to “The blossoms will remain red for the whole year; they will not wither like a thousand other species.” The seal at end of poem reads “shang” (appreciation).
In the new Mexican and Central & South American galleries a beautiful Calaveras is adorned with dazzling painted flowers. Calaveras are representations of human skulls and skeletons displayed during Day of the Dead celebrations. They represent the departed soul. The importance of this object could not be expressed better than by Andrea Silva, a member of the community work group that reimagined the new galleries.
“This artwork reflects the Mesoamerican view of death not as an end, but as a transition that keeps our ancestors and their legacy alive. In the worldview of these cultures, death is a natural part of the life cycle, and through it, the bonds between generations remain strong.” – Andrea Silva
In the Arts of the Pacific gallery, you will find a small jarlet with a figure resting in the vessel’s opening. Cobalt blue chrysanthemums decorate its surface. In Vietnam the chrysanthemum represents longevity and is one of four kinds of flowers considered precious.
Finally in the North American art gallery you’ll find The Garden. (Not a garden, though there is a sculpture garden outside and beautiful flowers near the Museum Café patio).
The painting The Garden, by American artist Worthington Whittredge depicts a small garden plot with lush hollyhock blooms. In the Victorian flower language, hollyhock represents fecundity (fruitfulness/fertility) while white hollyhock specifically represented female ambition. These tall-stalked fluffy flowers also have a reputation as a healing plant, in fact the first half of its scientific name alcea rosea, comes from the Greek word alceos or “to cure”. Hollyhock’s English name, also spelled “holy hoc,” suggests that the hollyhock came from the holy land.
It’s interesting to compare what the flowers mean on their own to what they might represent in the context of art. Why do you think flowers have captured artists’ imaginations around the world? What do you feel when you look at all of these botanical artworks?
These beautiful flowers add color and rich meaning to the UMFA galleries, and we hope you’ve enjoyed this virtual tour of the flowers on view. Visit the UMFA today and explore the hay fever-free ‘garden’ in person!
Further Reading:
- Fisher, Celia. The Medieval Flower Book. British Library, 2007.
- Explore the UMFA collection’s object records on Argus.
- The Language of Flowers: An Alphabet of Floral Emblems (1857), courtesy of the Public Domain Review.