Hidden Flower Symbolism in Old Master Paintings

A DailyArt Magazine article explores the hidden symbolism of flowers in Western painting, tracing its roots from medieval herbals and Christian iconography through the Renaissance, Pre-Raphaelite, and Dutch Golden Age works. White lilies in Leonardo da Vinci's Annunciation signify purity and Marian theology, while red poppies in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's Lady Lilith evoke sleep and death. John Everett Millais's Ophelia systematically deploys pansies, daisies, violets, nettles, and rue to narrate Ophelia's tragedy. Mandrake and belladonna appear in depictions of witches and sorceresses by Henry Fuseli and Frans Francken II, signaling magic and poison. Dutch vanitas still lifes by Clara Peeters and Adriaen van Utrecht use roses, tulips, wheat, morning glories, and irises to meditate on mortality. The article argues that reading floral symbolism reveals a second, often more honest layer of meaning in these paintings.