I have just returned from a trip to Florence - my favourite city - where I managed to visit the Iris Gardens. These gardens open, free of charge, during the flowering season of the irises (late April to the end of May), and are situated on the hill overlooking the city, adjacent to the Piazzale Michelangelo. The iris is a potent symbol of the identity of Florence and can be seen displayed on buildings all over the city. The civic flag consists of a white field charged with a stylised red iris, commonly referred to as the ‘giglio’. The Giglio Fiorentino is a common flowering plant in Tuscany, specifically the Arno valley around Florence. Legend has it that on St. Reparata's Day in the year 405, the Goths had Florence under siege, and defeat for the Florentines looked imminent. Suddenly, St. Reparata, the then patron saint of the city, appeared in the midst of the fighting, holding a blood-red banner emblazoned with a white iris, and with that, the fortunes of the Florentines turned, leaving them victorious. In gratitude, the city adopted the symbol for its coat of arms. In the 13th century following a power struggle between the different factions in Florence, the colours were reversed.
The cathedral, or Duomo, of Florence, Saint Maria of the Flowers, was previously dedicated to St. Reparata. In Spring the fields in the Tuscan countryside around Florence and beyond are full of the colours and scent of irises. The violet-scented rhizome of the Tuscan iris, called orris root, was once so important in perfume making that a direct train left Florence for Grasse in the August harvest season, filled with sacks of orris root from local farms. The iris is one of almost 200 flowers that bloom in Botticelli's great painting in the Uffizi, Primavera, which we will explore in my talk. A floral tour de force so accurate that it has been used as a teaching aid for students of botany.
The Renaissance garden came to be viewed as a space formed by an alliance between art and nature to delight the eye and provide repose for the spirit. A place where plants and flowers were cultivated for the sensory pleasure of their colour, shape and fragrance rather than only for their medicinal or edible properties.
The new talk is on the theme of the enduring appeal of flowers in art. We will be looking at how flowers have found their way into works of art considered more prestigious than a humble still life. How flowers act as symbols of wealth, fashion and feelings, expressing ideas about civic identity, personal prestige and political power in paintings from the 15th to the 21st century.
The talk at Nether Wallop on 9th June includes a donation to the Red Cross Appeal for Ukraine
Thursday 26th May, 10.30am Penton Mewsey Village Hall (£10 - Refreshments included)
Thursday 9th June, 7.30pm Nether Wallop Village Hall (£10 - Glass of wine & donation included)
To book a ticket in advance please email me at tangerinearttalks@gmail.com
Tickets will also be sold on the door.
I do hope you can make it to one of the dates.
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