Apple in mythology and painting

 Yesterday International Vegan Day was celebrated. This holiday ends on October 1 "month of vegetarian awareness."

Vegans are the most strict vegetarians. They exclude from their diet all products of animal origin - meat, fish, eggs, milk and dairy products, honey.

However, not one vegan will refuse a juicy and tasty apple. In addition to nutritional value, apples have aesthetic merits and significant mythological and symbolic meanings. The most complete "apple" perfection is represented in painting.

Apple is a symbol of ambivalent. It can denote both good and evil. In the mythology of many peoples, the apple personifies the fruit of  the tree of life (remember the "apples of apples"), as well as  well-being and wealth.

The  most famous apple in ancient mythology is the "apple of discord",  because of which rival Aphrodite, Hera and Athena and which Paris  awarded to the goddess of love. Soon after this, the Trojan War began. 

 Lucas Cranach the Elder. Paris Court. 1530s 

 Peter Paul Rubens. Court of Paris. 1635-38 

 Auguste Renoir. Court of Paris. 1913

With the advent of Christianity, the "apple of discord" is transformed into the "apple of the Fall." It  is interesting that in the Bible the exact name of "instruments of  temptation" is not - only certain "fruits" are mentioned, therefore in  early Christian art there are no apples. However, over time, the apple began to appear on icons and paintings on biblical themes. The fact is that the Latin word "malum" means both apple and evil. 

 Jacob Jordaens. The temptation of Adam and Eve (the Fall). 1640

But  the apple in the hand of the infant Jesus or the Virgin Mary has the  opposite meaning to the "apple of the Fall" meaning and becomes a symbol  of salvation and redemption of sins. 

 Lucas Cranach the Elder. Madonna and baby under the apple tree. 1530s

Biblical connotations are not lost in some still lifes. For  example, apples present among objects and apples, sometimes even with  obvious signs of decay, may indicate original sin, which "let" death  into the world. 

 Balthazar van der Ast. Fruit basket. 1632

With the advent of the Renaissance new, including quite secular meanings began to be affirmed. Apple began to personify the spring, youth, love, life and wealth. Particularly interesting in this sense is the portrait genre. 

 Rafael Santi. Portrait of a young man with an apple. About 1505 

 Vasily Tropinin. Girl with an apple. The 1800s 

 Alexander Gerasimov. Girl with an apple. 1928

The last girl seems to me, sorry, foreshadowing Lolita. And the apple in her hand is clearly Eve's gift. And the hand is left ...

Paul Cezanne made a particularly significant contribution to the development of the "apple theme" in contemporary painting. Just think - about two hundred still lifes and kilograms of apples on canvases. Apple for him was a symbol of a new look at objects. For a special "love" for apples, Paul Gauguin called Cezanne "Rembrandt of apples." 

 Paul Cezanne. Apples. 1877-1878 

 Paul Cezanne. Vase, glass and apples. 1880 

 Paul Cezanne. Apples and oranges. 1895

Rene Magritte created an amazingly memorable image of the apple. His green apple in the painting "Son of Man" resurrects the fullness of the symbolic meaning of this fruit. The  expected sour-sweet taste of the fruit indicates both original sin and  the temptation-pleasures accompanying a person's life. 

 Renee Margritte. Son of man. 1964

In Soviet painting, the semantic load of the topic "collecting apples." With  its help embodied and images of abundance (the harvest of apples is  abundant and beautiful), and the joy of collective labor, and the  allegories of all human life. 

 Konstantin Yuon. Picking apples. 1928 

 Vladimir Mikita. Picking apples. 1972 

Thank you for attention!