Femme au bouquet de lilas 

This is Delphin Enjolras’s delicate pastel study of a woman with lilacs. Here, the dominant symbol is the lilac itself, imbued with meanings of first love and fleeting beauty, popular in bourgeois courtship rituals during the 19th century. The presence of lilacs is not unique to Enjolras; flowers have historically served as potent carriers of symbolic weight. Consider Botticelli's "Primavera," where flora signals the arrival of spring and, metaphorically, new beginnings. Yet, whereas Botticelli's flowers explode with vibrant energy, lilacs often communicate a sense of nostalgia, a pensive yearning as seen in Pre-Raphaelite paintings. Lilacs, like memories, possess a fragrance that lingers, evoking emotions tied to specific moments or persons. They are a silent language passed down, shifting in meaning through societal changes, a reminder that symbols, like the human psyche, are shaped by layers of experience.