Boeket met anemonen, een hyacint en riddersporen c. 1670

Jacques Bailly created this delicate bouquet with ink in the 17th century. The arrangement features prominent anemonies and hyacinths, flowers laden with symbolic weight across cultures. The anemone, named from the Greek word for "windflower," has long been associated with transience and fragility. In classical mythology, it sprang from the tears of Venus as she mourned Adonis, linking the flower to themes of love and loss. Similarly, hyacinths carry tales of sorrow, named after the beautiful youth accidentally killed by Apollo. From ancient Greece to the Renaissance, hyacinths were emblems of regret and remembrance. Consider how these floral symbols recur throughout art history, transforming yet retaining echoes of their origins. Here, Bailly arranges them, not as mere decoration, but as a poignant meditation on beauty, mortality, and the enduring power of myth. These images resonate, engaging our subconscious with layers of cultural memory.