Rose 2015

Carlos Sablòn offers us this contemporary piece, simply titled "Rose." The rose, encased here in glass, is a symbol laden with centuries of meaning. It represents love, beauty, and often, the transient nature of existence. This motif is not new. We see roses in ancient Roman frescoes, emblems of Venus, the goddess of love. During the Renaissance, Botticelli scattered them in "Primavera," evoking fertility and renewal. Yet, here, the glass dome introduces a layer of preservation and artificiality. Consider the hummingbird hovering nearby. In many cultures, it symbolizes joy, healing, and adaptability. It is a messenger, like Hermes, darting between worlds. This juxtaposition of the contained rose and the free hummingbird speaks to a deeper tension: the struggle between preserving beauty and allowing life to unfold naturally. The symbols in this painting engage our collective memory, tapping into a primal understanding of beauty, love, and the bittersweet passage of time, forever cycling through art history.