The Apple: A Cultural and Botanical History of Malus
Marco Belpoliti and Anita Romanello trace the apple's journey from Kazakhstan's forests to global ubiquity. The apple tree, Malus, is the world's most cultivated tree and produces the most appreciated fruit, yet it was absent from the Garden of Eden. The apple Eve offers Adam in Dürer's paintings at the Prado results from a mistranslation of the Hebrew 'tappuah' into Greek 'melon' (round fruit). Celebrated by poets Catullus and Sappho, catalogued by Pliny, and favored by writers like Rigoni Stern and the Beatles, the apple lay hidden for millennia in Kazakhstan's forests. It reached the Mediterranean and Middle East only after centuries, aided by the invention of grafting in the Greek era. The tree migrated along the Silk Road via animal and human waste, giving rise to new varieties.
Key facts
- The apple tree is the world's most cultivated tree.
- The apple was absent from the Garden of Eden.
- Eve's apple in Dürer's paintings at the Prado is due to a mistranslation of Hebrew 'tappuah' to Greek 'melon'.
- The apple was celebrated by poets Catullus and Sappho.
- Pliny catalogued the apple.
- The apple originated in the forests of Kazakhstan.
- Grafting, invented in the Greek era, enabled the apple's spread to the Mediterranean and Middle East.
- The apple tree migrated along the Silk Road via animal and human waste.
Entities
Artists
Institutions
- Prado
- doppiozero
Locations
- Kazakhstan
- Mediterranean
- Middle East
- Silk Road