Bloeiende Asclepias species 1831 - 1900

Jan Jacob Goteling Vinnis rendered this Asclepias species with watercolor in the 19th century, showcasing its distinctive star-shaped flowers. This botanical study, with its pronounced symmetry, echoes the symbolic order we impose on nature. The star, a motif extending back to ancient Mesopotamia, represents divine guidance and celestial order, a pattern humans seek even in earthly flora. In earlier Renaissance art, similar floral arrangements adorned devotional images, framing sacred figures and sanctifying the space. The Asclepias, or milkweed, further carries its own symbolic weight; its milky sap, reminiscent of maternal nourishment. Such imagery taps into deeply ingrained cultural memories, linking the plant to ideas of fertility and sustenance. This convergence of botanical accuracy and symbolic depth illustrates how even the most objective scientific renderings can't escape the rich tapestry of human symbolism. The life of images is indeed a non-linear, cyclical progression, always present, always evolving.