Religious symbols often include common elements of life and nature like flowers, plants, fruits, and trees.

Many flowers, plants, and fruits have been imbued with symbolic meanings since ancient times. For instance, their attributes have been linked to mythological gods and goddesses like Venus, Diana, Jupiter, and Apollo; they are revered for their beauty and also for their spiritual significance.

During the Renaissance most art depicted religious themes. The same flowers, fruits, and trees that once adorned Medieval and Early Renaissance gardens and paintings from the 13th to the 15th century can still be found in today's gardens. Today museum and gallery visitors, who may no longer be aware of the earlier significance of these symbols, can become informed and discover enhanced enjoyment of the paintings.

In Christian art, what do the following plants and foliage symbolize?

1. Iris

The iris represents the Virgin Mary. An iris often is used in place of a lily in paintings of Mary. If the iris is a blue color, it represents Mary as Queen of heaven. If it is white, it symbolizes Mary's purity. In an altar panel done by Hugo van der Goes (1467-1482), “Adoration of the Shepherds,” the foreground shows two vases of flowers. One contains white and blue irises, symbolizing the Virgin. Actually any white flower symbolizes the purity of the Virgin. In Giotto’s “Madonna and Child” (c. 1320) Mary holds a white flower toward which the baby Jesus reaches; the flower is the centerpiece of the painting.

2. Ivy

Because ivy is an evergreen it symbolizes eternal life. Because ivy hooks its climbing stems and clings tightly onto walls and tree trunks – anywhere it can secure a hold – it represents fidelity, as in faithfulness in marriage. El Greco’s painting “The Pentitent Saint Peter” depicts the anguish of St. Peter over his denial of Christ. Above the saint there are leaves of ivy that are intended to symbolize immortality.

3. Peach

A peach is symbolic of the silence of virtue and of a virtuous heart and language. Sometimes it appears in paintings of the Virgin and Child in place of the apple to symbolize the fruit of salvation. A peach can also symbolize truth. In Carlo Crivelli's gorgeous and crisply-detailed masterpiece “Madonna della Candeletta” (c. 1490), notice the single peach placed on the base of the throne by the Virgin Mary’s right foot. If the viewer's thoughts should stray, the artist reminds us of the straight path with the image of the peach as redemptive fruit.

4. Oak

Because of its heartiness, the oak tree has been worshipped and revered for thousands of years. From the druids who worshipped it to the Greeks and Romans who connected it to their gods, Christianity is only one of a long line of religions to use the oak as a symbol. In Christianity it can stand for Jesus. For instance, Raphael uses the imagery in his beautiful painting, The Holy Family of the Oak Tree (1518). It can also stand for endurance against adversity and the strength of faith in time of trial.

5. Elm

The elm alludes to the dignity of life. The spreading of its great branches in every direction symbolizes the strength that the devout find in their faith in the Bible.

6. Chestnut

The chestnut in its husk is surrounded by thorns but is unharmed by them. For this reason it is a symbol of chastity, portrayed as piety or modesty triumphing over the temptations of the flesh symbolized by the thorns.

7. Almond

In the Bible the almond is mentioned ten times, beginning with the Book of Genesis where it is described as "among the best of fruits." Christian symbolism uses the almond as a symbol of the Virgin's purity. Christian symbolism often uses almond branches as a symbol of the Virgin Birth of Jesus; paintings often include almonds encircling the baby Jesus and as a symbol of Mary. An almond-shaped aureole sometimes shown surrounding Christ or the Virgin is known as a mandorla (from the Italian word for almond). Specifically, the mandorla is a medieval Christian artistic convention by which an oval or almond-shaped area or series of lines surrounds Mary or Jesus.

8. Holly

Holly is often used as a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns and therefore represents the Passion of Christ.

Source:

Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.