The language of flowers in nineteenth-century American painting

Magazine Antiques, Oct, 1999 by Judith Walsh

The Victorian interest in natural science, combined with the era's sentimentality, found meanings for many of the flowers. Rhododendron flowers are poisonous, so the plant implies danger. Spiderwort, which blooms for a few hours every morning, signifies transient happiness, while lily of the valley, which blooms so lavishly in the early spring, often signifies the return of happiness. Since the fruit and flowers of oranges appear simultaneously, the plant symbolizes generosity. Michaelmas daisies, or wild asters, blooming late in the season, imply farewell or an afterthought. Meadow saffron, which also blooms quite late, laments "my best days are past." The flower of the pimpernel, dosing every day at the same time, suggests a scheduled assignation. Vines and plants that entwine were assigned associations with tenacious adherence. Thus, geranium ivy meant bridal favor and the morning glory, affection or attachment.

Classical mythology yielded Narcissus, who so loved his reflection that he was turned into the flower that bears his name. Not surprisingly, the Victorians believed the narcissus to be the emblem of egotism. The meaning assigned to the hyacinth seems more confusing at first glance. In the flower language books it is identified as jealousy, grief, or play. The apparent ambiguity is resolved by recalling the story of Hyacinthus, from whose spilled blood the flower was said to have grown. He was a beautiful youth, beloved of Apollo, who in one version of the myth was slain by the jealous Zephyrus while pitching quoits with Apollo. Thus all three symbolic meanings have equal claim on the flower. However, given the confusion, one wonders what message the flower conveyed in a lover's bouquet.

A knowledge of classical culture and the history of manners was required to understand why the white rose is consistently listed as the emblem for silence. In ancient Rome, a white rose suspended over the dinner table warned guests that all conversation at the table was to be held in confidence, for they were dining sub rosa. In Victorian houses plaster rosettes in ceiling medallions carried on this custom, and the flower language books codified the meaning.

It is important to note that the symbolism of flowers varied with language and culture. For example, in French flower language books rosemary always means "your presence revives me," perhaps in reference to rosemary's medicinal use or its role in funerary rites. However, in almost all English language vocabularies rosemary means remembrance. English-speaking authors knew their audience and could not hope to supersede Shakespeare's authority when Ophelia says "rosemary, that's for remembrance" in Hamlet, act 4, scene 5.

In addition to the changes noted from culture to culture, some flower meanings evolved as a culture changed. Both types of changes can be seen in the history of the meanings assigned to the passion flower, a blossom from South America. This flower was named to recall the Passion of Christ, which its various attributes suggested to the Spanish Jesuit missionaries who brought it to the attention of European botanists in the sixteenth century. The five ovoid petals edged in pink reminded the missionaries of Christs wounds; the circle of overlapping, needle-shaped petals at the center suggested the crown of thorns, and so forth. In the early flower language books from Catholic France the passion flower symbolized religious faith. In Protestant England it was emblematic of a slightly less agreeable quality - religious fervor. By about 1850 in the United States the passion flower represented religious superstition, probably reflecting Protestant resentment of Irish Catholic immigration to the United States throughout the 1840s. Late in the nineteenth century in some American flower language books the passion flower lost its religious overtone entirely and symbolized simply passion. Therefore, to correctly gauge the passion flower's meaning in a painting, one needs to consider both the artist's nationality and the approximate date of the painting.