Lemon, Grapes and Wine Bottle, Rome 1965

Frank Mason's still life, painted in Rome, presents us with a deceptively simple scene: a lemon, grapes, and a wine bottle arranged with deliberate care. These elements are not merely objects; they are symbols laden with historical and cultural weight. The grapes and wine, most notably, evoke the Christian Eucharist and Bacchic revelry, diametrically opposed yet connected by the shared theme of transformation and spiritual experience. The lemon, with its bright color and sharp taste, introduces a note of the sensual and earthly. Observe how similar arrangements, echoing back to ancient Roman frescoes, appear throughout the Renaissance and Baroque periods, each time shifting slightly in tone and emphasis. The persistence of this imagery reveals our continued subconscious need to reconcile the earthly with the divine. This composition is not just a collection of fruit and drink but a powerful statement that continues to engage us on a profound, subconscious level.