Sentiment c. 1851 - 1853

This is James Sant's painting, Sentiment, of unknown date, showing a young woman delicately holding a rose. The rose, a symbol steeped in history, evokes love, beauty, and transience. This motif stretches back to antiquity, appearing in ancient Roman frescoes and Greek myths, always carrying associations with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Consider Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," where roses fall from the heavens, linking the flower to divine beauty. The rose has blossomed through time, finding its way into religious art as a symbol of the Virgin Mary. Yet here, the girl's introspective gaze and the rose's fragility suggest a deeper, perhaps melancholic sentiment. The gesture of holding the flower could evoke a sense of loss, of something fleeting. Just as the rose wilts, so do youth and beauty fade. It acts on our subconscious, engaging our deepest emotions. This eternal symbol reminds us that even in beauty, there is an undercurrent of sorrow, a universal human experience.