Strawberries as an "Earthly Delight"

I've been thinking about Hieronymous Bosch and The Garden of Earthly Delights (c. 1510-1515) quite a bit this week. In fact, this afternoon I sat down to write a post about how Bosch's "tree-man" (located in the center of the panel which depicts Hell) is believed by some to be a self-portrait of the artist.¹ But, I'm not going to write on that. At least not right now.

Instead, I've become pleasantly distracted by Walter S. Gibson's article, "The Strawberries of Hieronymous Bosch." These strawberries appear all over the central panel of The Garden of Earthly Delights altarpiece (see details on right and below). Gibson notes that Bosch's strawberries garnered attention from viewers very early on. In fact, in 1593 an inventory for some of Philip II's pictures mentions that the altarpiece had earned the nickname the Madroño (or "the Strawberry").² Twelve years later a librarian at El Escorial, Philip's monastery-palace, explained that the panel is "of the vanity and glory and the passing taste of strawberries or the strawberry plant and its pleasant odor that is hardly remembered once it has passed."³ This librarian, named Fray José de Sigüenza, felt that the strawberry was the most important feature of Bosch's garden, and was the fruit was a symbol of the ephemeral, transient nature of earthly pleasures.

Many symbolic interpretations for the strawberries have been put forward, and most of them have negative connotations.⁴ For example,  strawberries have multiple seeds, which could hint at promiscuity.⁵ The other fruit included in the central panel (such as the big raspberries) could also be associated with promiscuity for this same reason.

Gibson suggests that the strawberry imagery might connected to a text by Virgil (which probably would have been familiar to Bosch and Hendrik III because Virgil's passage is referenced in Roman de la Rose, a popular poem in the Burgundian court). In this text, Virgil warns children to not gather strawberries, because "the cold, evil serpent" is hiding the grass nearby. It seems to me that Bosch's strawberries could serve as an indirect reference to a serpent (and, by extension, the Fall and sin). Such associations fit well with the imagery for The Garden of Earthly Delights, don't you think? That being said, I also think that there isn't just one specific symbolic meaning for these strawberries. Since this altarpiece undoubtedly served as a focus for intellectual discussion, it is appropriate that Bosch used imagery that was replete with symbolic associations.

Do you know of any other interpretations for the strawberries in this altarpiece? Do you know of any works of art which also include strawberries for symbolic reasons? On a fun side note, I found an amusing comparison between Katy Perry and Bosch's fruit here. No doubt that Perry would view Bosch's strawberries as a symbol of sexuality!

1 David G. Wilkins, Bernard Schultz, Katheryn M. Linduff, Art Past Art Present, 6th edition, (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2009), 327.

2 Walter S. Gibson, "The Strawberries of Hieronymous Bosch," in Cleveland Studies in the History of Art 8 (2003): 25.

3 Ibid.

4 There are some positive interpretations of the strawberry which exist. In fact, Gibson points out that the strawberry was seen a medieval symbol of the Virgin. Such exalted associations with the fruit have led a handful of individuals to interpret Bosch's central panel as a scene of transcendent bliss and spiritual love. For a brief synopsis of these interpretations, see Gibson, 26-27. 

5 Wilkins, 326.

Barbie in Fine Art

A student sent me some fun links with images of Barbie that reference famous works of art. I recently saw something along these lines with drawings of Barbie, but I like that the actual dolls are used as models for most of these images. Check them out:

Barbie as Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Nefertiti, etc.
Barbie as a Warhol print

Photographer Mariel Clayton has a whole series of Barbie photographs that reference famous works of art (see the "Hystoria" section on her website). She has kindly given me permission to reproduce a few images here. They are all quite fun, but I think that her recreation of Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring is my favorite.

Mariel Clayton, after Vermeer's The Milkmaid from c. 1660

Mariel Clayton, after David's Death of Marat from 1793

Mariel Clayton, after Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring from c. 1665

Mariel Clayton, after Whistler's Arrangement in Gray and Black: The Artist's Mother (also called "Whistler's Mother") from 1871

Do any other professors find themselves talking about Barbie in art history courses? Whenever I teach about ancient art, students always bring up Barbie in comparison with the Venus of Willendorf. I enjoy comparing how the standards and ideals for representing the female figure (and perhaps beauty) have changed since prehistoric times, but I think it's interesting that students best understand (or relate to?) this concept in conjunction with Barbie.

The Ecstasy of St. Robert Plant

While commuting to work this morning, I listened to Led Zeppelin's "Mothership" album in anticipation for my lecture on Baroque art. But there's no similarity between those two things, you say? I beg to differ:

 

Bernini, detail of The Ecstasy of St. Theresa (1647-52)

Of course, the "ecstasy" that may have influenced Robert Plant would have been much different from the ecstasy of St. Theresa...

Picasso and Paul McCartney

Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist, 1903

Did you know that a Picasso painting helped to inspire a Paul McCartney song? Today my little brother sent me this short clip of Paul explaining when/where/why he came up with the idea for the "Two Fingers" song:

I'm pretty sure, though, that Picasso didn't have a specific chord in mind when he painted The Old Guitarist. In fact, it has already been discussed how Picasso's lack of musical training is evident in his other depictions of musicians (for example, instances in which violinists hold their instruments with the wrong hand, as is seen in his Three Musicians (1921, PMA version)). Nonetheless, it's fun to know that Picasso had a little influence on Paul.

The Beatles and Visual Art

Imagine: If John Lennon was still alive, then today would be his 70th birthday. As a tribute to one of the greatest musicians of all time, I thought I would post a rare self-portrait of Lennon (shown left). This portrait (which is listed here by Cooper Owen) was created by Lennon in 1958 for a school assignment. I really like it, mostly because I think the visual style mimics a lot of John's future interests in music: distortion, strong contrasts, and asymmetrical compositions.

I love when musicians dabble in the visual arts. Being married to both a musician and an artist, I understand that creative minds sometimes need multiple types of outlets for their creativity. Paul McCartney (who is my favorite Beatle - I've seen him perform twice!), is also an artist. You can see several of his paintings on this site (which includes information from a catalog of McCartney's 1999 exhibition in Germany). I really like Paul's style as well. One of my favorite paintings by him is Yellow Linda with Piano (1988, shown below).

Ringo Starr also has hopped onto the artistic bandwagon, although I think that his art is absolutely ridiculous. Sorry, Ringo, but it looks like you're just playing around with the "Paint" application. (Which I don't think is very far from the truth - Ringo mentions that he began to make computer art when he was on tour in the late 1990s.) Anyhow, you can see some of Ringo's art on his official art website and form your own opinion.

As for George Harrison, it doesn't seem like he took much interest in the visual arts. But hey, George can make the decorative arts rock out like no one else can (as we can see in his totally awesome music video "I Got My Mind Set on You"), so hey, that definitely counts for something.

Do you know of other pop musicians who create visual art?

Voldemort's Cousin?

I don't have any profound thoughts tonight folks - just something I found a little humorous. The other day I had a good chuckle when I realized that the Human Figure from Ain Ghazal (6500 BCE, shown above) looks a lot like Voldemort. Do you think Ralph Fiennes' makeup designer was inspired by art from the ancient Near East?

The "LOST" Supper

Aside from the basic composition, I can't find enough art historical references to justify a full-fledged comparison between this photo and da Vinci's Last Supper. But I think some art history/pop culture savants might like to engage in some discussion, so I've posted a little about the photo on a "LOST" blog that I share with friends (see here). Feel free to take a gander.

Thanks for sending me this photo, Todd! It made my day. And if anyone does find some strong connections between the "LOST Supper" and da Vinci's Last Supper, please comment. I'd love to know your ideas.

Devéria and the Lion King?

Here's my latest art historical hunch. Take a look at the two images below. Does anyone else think that the opening scene of Disney's cartoon "The Lion King" (1994) was influenced by Eugène Devéria's Birth of Henry IV (1827)?



I wonder if Disney has ever written about artistic influences for their films. It would be fun to see if there is a statement by Disney that could support my hunch...