Kate Greenaway

Contains alphabetical lists of flowers and the meanings associated with them.

Kate Greenaway's Language of Flowers

Amanda Rocha

Rachel Ruysch’s “A Vase Of Flowers” (1689) 

The language of flowers (floriography) is a means of communicating through the arrangement of flowers and has been practiced for thousands of years in traditional cultures. Flowers have been used as symbols in art and literature for centuries, with examples dating as far back as the Bible and classical works of Shakespeare. In seventeenth century Europe flower gardens were cultivated in wealthy homes as a sign of prosperity and affluence; arrangements of specific blooms would have been given as gifts to express emotions that were not appropriate to be spoken aloud in Victorian society or used to decorate the interior of a home. The average citizen typically would not be able to afford flower gardens or simple bouquets, and during the early seventeenth century floral still lives became an affordable alternative to real flowers and would last much longer than real floral displays. Historically, flowers have been used to romantically capture the archetypal ideas of beauty. Flowers laden with symbolism predominate much of the work of artists like Ruysch, who are admired for their idealistic representation of women and emphasis on nature and morality.
	
Dutch painter Rachel Ruysch specialized in ornately decorated floral still lives that were often an amalgamation of blooms that would not typically be seen growing together or even be arranged in the same vase. “A Vase Of Flowers” (1689), which is now located in the San Diego Art Museum in Balboa Park, was painted with oil paint on canvas in the Northern Netherlands and combines various blooms in a single vase amidst a dull and shadowy room. The painting depicts flowers of various colors in the various stages of bloom and decay, representing the spectrum of life and death while butterflies and dragonflies hover on the petals, suggesting evolution and transformation.
Whereas earlier floral paintings focus on clear lines and symmetrical bouquets that rise to provide a clear view of the container, Ruysch fills then entire canvas with uneven collections that often expand off the canvas and rarely show much of the container at all. The asymmetrical arrangement places emphasis on certain flowers, such as the large white peony in the center and the sunflower below it, while other flowers such as the daffodil and daisies are smaller and some even face away from the viewer. Though asymmetrical, the painting is balanced by creating a diagonal with flora reaching up to the top left hand corner and the architecture of the room extending down to the bottom right side of the canvas. The lightly painted colonnades in the top right of the painting create another balanced diagonal with the blank space in the bottom left of the canvas. The irregular display realistically parallels the natural decay of flowers, depicting the flowers in various stages of aging such as a living bouquet might wilt.

Ruysch uses chiaroscuro to contrast the light blooms with the dark room similar many to late Baroque and Rococo style paintings, accentuating the flowers while deemphasizing the space that frames them. Chiaroscuro of the complex composition manipulates the contrast of light and dark to give an illusion of depth and to create volume in a painting. Ruysch also employs the uses one point perspective to create depth in the painting. The large scale bouquet commands the majority of space in the work, though in the dull background the architecture fades, creating depth. 
According to Pearson (755), still life paintings carry “moralizing connotations, reminding viewers of the transience of life and material possessions”. The work is filled with symbolism of the natural world: the flowering blooms each represent a different quality of the human experience that people hope to attain whereas the winged insects might symbolize the souls of humans themselves. Stems and vines entwine and interlace through the complex bouquet, symbolizing a connection to our origins while the vibrant blooms represent enlightenment and realization of certain emotions and values. A bright, white Peony directs the viewer to the center of the canvas: as an archetypical symbol of feminine beauty and purity, the flower alone suggests romance while the dragonfly resting on the large petals might signify adaptability and self-realization. Alone, the peony and dragonfly might imply romantic perception, though the other flowers enhance the symbolic meaning of the work as a whole and suggest romantic wisdom as only one aspect of the soul. As symbols of longevity and happiness, the large sunflower beneath the peony hints at another aspect of the human experience. Other flowers such as daffodils (for rebirth and new beginnings) and daisies (for simplicity and modesty) imply other characteristics of the human condition. Larger blooms suggest an emphasized importance of the symbolic quality in life while smaller or wilting flowers imply that the symbolic quality has less significance. For example, while romance implied by the large peony dominates ones mortal soul, purity and innocence represented by smaller daisies might take a smaller role in life in comparison to love. 

In comparison to the “sensitive free-form arrangements and unusual and beautiful color harmonies” (Pearson, 756) in Ruysch’s later “Flower Still Life” (1700), “A Vase of Flowers” is an earlier example of Ruysch attention to detail and skilled illustration of floral anatomy. The two works share asymmetrical arrangements which rise in a diagonal across the canvas and are offset by diagonal tabletops. In both works highlighted blossoms and leaves are balanced against the shadowed backgrounds, calling attention to the flowers rather than the spaces where they are located. In both paintings long, curving stems and casually placed insects enliven the composition and create counterbalance to the large, bright blooms that dominate the painting. Ruysch’s style is clearly captured in both paintings, exemplifying her interest in botany while focusing on the significance of the human soul in relation to the natural world.

Focusing on elaborately decorated floral arrangements Ruysch’s “A Vase Of Flowers” (1689) combines an assortment of highlighted blooms amidst a dim room obscured by a lack of light. The painting depicts flowers of various colors in the various stages of bloom and decay, representing the spectrum of life and death while butterflies and dragonflies hover on the petals, signifying development and transformation of the human soul via the idealistic qualities of faith, romance, and purity. As a representation human exploration into oneself, the painting illustrates the universal discovery of life while gently suggesting the inevitability of death and decay though the depiction of new blooms and old blooms.