Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 11.3
Emilia in her
medieval garden weaves
a wreath of flowers for
her hair. Painting entitled
“Arcita and Palemone admire
Emilia in her garden”, from
a manuscript of Boccaccio's
Teseida (1339-1340), Vienna,
Österreichische Nationalbib-
liothek, Cod. 2617 Han, 53r
floral design compositions resembling highly pruned trees and shrubs were kept in
large containers (Hunter
2000
). During the Middle Ages (476-1450 ad) flowers
maintained their importance particularly in everyday medicinal, food, drink, and
body freshening uses with Medieval gardens an important source of floral materials
(Fig.
11.3
).
In the Renaissance, which began in Italy in the fourteenth century, floral designs
in vases commonly appeared in paintings and flowers for specific purposes and as a
source of symbolism. For instance, in the painting “The Annunciation” by Leonardo
da Vinci (1452-1519) and Andrea del Verrocchio (1435-1488),
Lilium candidum
became known as the Madonna lily and was associated with fertility as well as
chastity (Brown
1998
). Since that time, other flowers have symbolic meanings in
paintings (Bos
2012
; Segal
1990
) and sculptures (Janick et al.
2010
). The Lan-
guage of Flowers developed after the publication of the monograph,
Le Language
des Fleurs
by Madame Charlotte de la Tour in 1819, which was followed by Kate
Greenaway's,
Language of Flowers,
in 1884, provides a list of over 200 plants and
what they mean to people.
Mixed bouquets during the Renaissance period demonstrate that a wide variety
of flowers were cultivated, ranging from daffodil, rose, carnation, lily, anemone,
bell flower, iris, lily of the valley, lupin, pansy, poppy, primrose, and stock to tulip.
During the Baroque and Dutch-Flemish periods (seventeenth to eighteenth centu-
ries) the wide array of cultivated flowers continued with a particular interest in the
“broken” tulips streaked with colours (Fig.
11.4
; Segal
1990
).
The Victorian era (1837-1901) was one of the most influential European peri-
ods that encouraged the use of flowers in everyday life (Maas
1969
). This period
greatly influenced the emerging American use of flowers in mass arrangements for
