Juan van der Hamen. Bodegón con alcachofas, flores y recipientes de vidrio, 1627. Museo Nacional del Prado

Madrid,

From today until next March, the Prado Museum offers us a new thematic itinerary through its permanent collections, this time curated by Eduardo Barba Gómez, gardener and botanical researcher in works of art, since plants are the protagonists of this new story .

The tour, complemented by a publication and audio guides, traces the presence of up to forty species in a set of twenty-six works dated from Roman times to the beginning of the 18th century: they will allow us to discover how, in painting, the representation of flowers and Plants can allude to mythological, religious, nobility or customs symbols to convey certain meanings in the scenes, in addition to opening paths of relationship with the current viewer.

Like the rest of the itineraries already proposed by the Prado, this one is also an invitation to contemplate its collection from perspectives other than the usual ones, without losing rigor; The proposals were previously organized Reflections of the Cosmos, The Prado in feminine in two editions, Calderón and painting and Another collection: the frames of the National Prado Museum.

In each stage represented in the project, the plants were treated in a different way, with more or less attention to details: if in the Romanesque style extreme simplification was resorted to, which gave the specimens a very characteristic beauty, in the Gothic style it began to ensure precision and correct description of each plant and each flower; According to Barba, it was then that the botanical portrait acquired its own entity in the works, which would culminate in the Renaissance. In this period, we will frequently find plants in the foreground of the compositions, captured in a naturalistic way. Sometimes, the species could be close to the author’s environment, perhaps at the foot of his work workshop; other times, and as a result of the increasingly numerous expeditions to different parts of the world, exotic plants from distant countries were incorporated and enriched the flora in art, especially since the 16th century. It was not unusual, from that moment on, for some authors to realize their ability to observe the natural environment, portraying plants with subtlety, as if they were another character in their works.

All types of supports are present in this itinerary, from marble and semi-precious stones to boards and canvases. In Roman sculpture Sleeping Eros or Hypnosdated 100 – 130, we find two poppies in the figure’s hand, which on this occasion would not refer to the dream, because the child lacks wings on his temples, but to the sepulchral function of the work; in the wall painting of the Creation of Adam A palm tree stands out from Maderuelo, possibly because it is identified with the Tree of Life and because of the eastern location of Eden; and in the Gothic altarpiece of the Life of the Virgin and Saint Francisgreen and wooded spaces, and lilies, complete some of the scenes.

Fra Angelico meticulously represented, inherited from Gentile da Fabriano, the flowers of the Garden of Eden from which Adam and Eve must leave, including the so-called beggars weed; That meticulousness can also be seen next to the stream of Van Eyck’s Fountain of Grace and in its wild strawberries or in the landscape on the other side of the window next to which Henry of Werl prays with Saint John the Baptist, in the composition of a follower of the so-called Master of Flémalle, where we also appreciate lilies.

The Crucifixion of Juan de Flandes, despite his desire to focus on the essential, incorporates daisies; and Patinir displayed a rich dark forest in his Rest in the flight to Egypt. Here the apple tree with few fruits to the left of the Virgin is the Tree of Good and Evil, dried up as a result of original sin, but sprouting again after the incarnation of Christ; The twisted vine without grapes alludes to the words of that one (I am the vine) and is associated with his death on the cross, with the Redemption, just like the ivy that also twines around him, while the chestnut tree in the second plane, to the left of Mary, is related to the resurrection, and its fruits fallen on the ground – some open, revealing the chestnuts – they allude to the Immaculate Conception. The large number of flowers and plants in the foreground also have a Christological or Marian meaning; Barba invites us to pay attention to the mullein.

The Bacchanal of the Andriansby Titian, shows us the violets of Andros, and their Adam and Eveplantain, in addition to that fig tree whose leaves were used to cover themselves. The lily, now yellow, comes out to meet us again in the Triptych of Saints John of Pourbus the Elder, who already incorporates Mannerist elements, and in Ages and Death by Hans Baldung Grien we will find wild saffron. In the portrait of García de Médici by Bronzino, the child carries a citron flower in his hand, a possible symbol of the purity and innocence of his age, and in that of Mary Tudor, queen of England, by Antonio More, she carries the red rose of his dynasty, called apothecaries rose.

The workshop of François Clouet is attributed a Woman in the bathroom (perhaps Diana of Poitiers) in whose curtains appear, among other species, carnations; and of unknown authorship is the Law Office of Don Rodrigo Calderóna board whose decorative motifs include the Fritillaria meleagris. Closing the route are Van der Hamen, Velázquez, Zurbarán and Claudio de Lorena, who knew how to paint snowballs, cypresses, marigolds and burdock.

Juan van der Hamen. Still life with artichokes, flowers and glass containers, 1627. Museo Nacional del Prado

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