Week 3 Discussion

Valentine's Day

The Roman Catholic saint, St. Valentine, is the patron saint of epilepsy, beekeepers, and the Italian city of Terni. In life, he ministered to persecuted Christians. Numerous legends surround him, one of which says that on Feb. 14, 269, he was executed for performing secret marriages in violation of a marriage ban imposed by the emperor, thus protecting the men from military conscription. This German woodcut of St. Valentine was produced in the 1570-80 timeframe.

Valentine's Day was set aside in his honor in 496 by the Pope. It wasn't until sometime around the 8th century, however, that Valentine's Day, became associated with courtly love. Some believe that this was because mid-February was thought to be the time of year that birds paired.

Already a tradition in Europe, the tradition of exchanging handmade Valentine's Day cards began in America in the early 1700s. Manufactured cards for purchase became available in the 1830s. I don't know when this card was produced, but it looks old-fashioned.

Roses

Fossil traces of roses have been found in Europe, Asia, and the western part of North America that are from 22 to 33 million years old. Roses are mentioned in Greek mythology and have been associated with secrecy, silence, and love since then. Roses carved into ceilings and confessionals serve as reminders of the need for discretion. In the middle ages, a literal rose was hung from ceilings of council chambers to ensure the secrecy of proceedings. That is where the term sub rosa (under the rose) came from, meaning something done in secret.

Opposite sides of England's War of the Roses chose red versus white roses as symbols. When the conflict ended with the crowning of Henry VII, the two colors were symbolically combined into what is known as the Tudor Rose as an emblem of peace. Though not a real flower, it is England's national flower. This stained glass panel of the Tudor Rose is preserved in the Museum of the Order of St John, Clerkenwell, London.

Various rose colors have different meanings in floriography, the language of flowers. Deep red roses symbolize romantic love, but deep red roses along with five petals and thorns represent certain Christian symbolism. Pink roses imply lesser affection. White roses imply virtue and chastity. Yellow roses stand for friendship or devotion. The black rose (actually a very very dark shade of red) symbolizes death.

Hanakotoba, a Japanese version of floriography, has its own versions of rose-color meanings, some of which overlap floriography meanings. Red means love or to be in love. White roses mean innocence, silence and devotion. Yellow roses mean jealousy. Pink roses mean trust, happiness and confidence.

uch rose blossoms have five petals, each with two lobes. It also has five calyxes. Simple, elegant and attractive.

Gardeners couldn't leave them alone. Roses have been cultivated extensively, starting in China, for over 3,000 years. Today, there are over 300 rose species and well over 10,000 varieties. Blossoms often have a lot more petals, and strong, vibrant colors are common. Here are a few.

Until recent decades, natural yellow roses came exclusively from China.

Some roses have variegated colors.

Rose plant leaves have serrated edges. There are nearly always an odd number of leaves per stem, with 5 being the most common number among the various species.

Rose plants need to be handled with care. The technical term for what look like thorns is prickles.

The fruiting body of rose blossoms is the rose hip. Depending on the species, rose hips can contain from about 10 to 160 seeds. Rose hips are edible and contain several nutrients, and it has an especially high vitamin C content.

Rose hips are use in bread and pies, as well as sweets like jam, jelly, marmalade, and syrup. There is rose hip soup, wine and teas. Oil is extracted from rose hips and used for skin care.

Rose hybrids need cultivation in order to maintain their characteristics from generation to generation. New plants grown from seeds revert to their simpler early versions.

Rose plants come in hundreds of shapes, colors and sizes.

Entire gardens are devoted to roses, like this rose garden on the grounds of the Huntington Library in San Marino, south of Pasadena.

Artwork

Katsushika Hokusai (1760 – 1849)

Hokusai is most famous for his landscapes, but he painted many other subjects, too. The ukiyo-e print below is a kachō-ga (pictures of birds and flowers) titled Warbler and Roses. It was printed in 1834. The poem translates to:

"The house on the hill opens

when the rose scatters her petals"

Imao Keinen (1845 – 1924)

Keinen studied in multiple schools of art and became a professor in the Kyōto School of Art. In 1892, he published an album of prints titled Keinen Kachō Gafu which established his reputation. He became an Imperial Household Artist in 1904 and eventually became a member of the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts. Keinen was part of the shin-hanga movement to restore traditional subjects, techniques, and values to Japanese print art in the early 20th century. His Bird and Roses print below was included in Keinen Kachō Gafu.

Ohara Koson (1877 – 1945)

Koson was another prominent member of the shin-hanga movement. His kachō-ga prints sold well in the west, and he was especially popular in the United States. Here is his Canary on a Rose Bush, dated 1930.