Still Life with Peaches 1896

Henri Fantin-Latour created this still life with peaches, with the fruit arranged in a basket and one placed off to the side. Peaches, like many fruits, bear the weight of symbolic meaning through history. In classical antiquity, peaches were associated with immortality, and this symbolism has surfaced time and again. We see it echoed in Chinese art, where peaches are a symbol of longevity. The single peach lying away from the others is a potent image—is it an offering, or perhaps a hint at isolation, a fruit set apart from the collective? The sensuous curves and soft blush of the peaches evoke a sense of the corporeal and a latent eroticism. Consider the abundance within the basket, a cornucopia of earthly delights. These images touch deep-seated desires and fears, resurfacing in our collective consciousness through art. The fruit is heavy with cultural memory.