Asparagus in Art: From Roman Mosaics to Manet

The season for asparagus is short, running from April 23 (St George's Day) to June. Its delicate flavor has made it a hero of vegetables, loved by kings and artists alike. The Romans invented food freezing in the 1st century BCE to preserve asparagus, and Cato the Elder wrote about its farming in 'On Agriculture'. In the Middle Ages, asparagus was used as a sedative and later believed to stimulate lust; herbalist Nicholas Culpeper wrote that it 'stirs up lust in man and woman'. The French word 'asperge' also means 'penis', possibly explaining Édouard Manet's fascination—he painted 'Asparagus' (1880, Musée d'Orsay) and 'Bunch of Asparagus' (1880, Wallraf-Richartz Museum). In the Netherlands, asparagus symbolized luxury and prosperity, as seen in still lifes by Adriaen Coorte (1703, Christie's; 1689, Sotheby's) and Jacob Foppens Van Es (1631, Sotheby's). Alongside strawberries and artichokes, it represented the fruits of Paradise. Modern works include Jan Wittenberg's 'Still life with Asparagus, Orange and Egg' (1931), John Morra's 'Asparagus' (2008, John Pence Gallery), Eliot Hodgkin's 'Asparagus' (1961), and Francesco Trombadori's 'Still life with Asparagi' (1928, Galleria d'Arte Moderna, Rome). In 1985, Germans founded a museum dedicated to asparagus.