Pictures can succeed where words might fail and can make religious concepts more thoroughly and easily grasped when they are used in paintings.
A symbol is a means of conveying ideas and facts to the mind through images or pictures. Through repetition, these pictures become conventionalized so that certain images convey distinct, easily recognizable, and well-defined thoughts. In other words, the symbol has a wealth of spiritual meaning that words cannot adequately express. When early Christians were persecuted and found refuge in, for example, catacombs, they could use their symbols as a form of unity and keep their meaning safe from the pagans who didn't understand them. Thus, religious symbols were a source of power.
Symbols found in early Christian art include the cross, crown, halo, hearts, the apple, snake, and various flowers and fruit – to name just a few. In addition, the large, circular rose windows found in Gothic cathedrals are more than just a stunning architectural feature: their perfect circular shape and light-filled stained glass represent the eye of God or the perfection of God.
In Christian art, what do the following fruits and trees usually symbolize?
1. the fig?
It's a symbol of fertility because of its many seeds.
2. an apple
When shown in Adam's hand, the apple symbolizes sin. When held by Christ, it represents salvation. Apples relate to the Bible story of Adam and Eve. They remind the viewer that Christ saved humanity from original sin.
3. cherry
Sweetness of character derived from good deeds due to the sweetness of this "fruit of paradise."
4. the orange
Purity, chastity, and generosity.
5. a gourd
The coming to be and passing away of all earthly matters.
6. lemon
Fidelity in love. In this painting by an unknown artist, "Man and His Wife" (1450), an intimate portrait between a man and woman, a lemon tree can be plainly viewed in the background. And in Paolo Morando's painting "The Virgin and Child, St. John the Baptist, and an Angel" (1514), Jesus is depicted accepting an offering of a lemon.
7. the grape
Represents the blood of Christ, and also for the wine used in Mass. The symbol of the grape is represented here in the beautifully depicted vine and leaves in Caravaggio’s painting of John the Baptist where the grape leaves stand for the grapes from which the wine of the Last Supper was pressed.
8. olive tree
Peace. A main example is Noah’s dove that brought back an olive branch to show the waters had receded and God had made his peace with humanity.
9. pomegranate
Symbolizes unity or nourishment of the soul. Also represents immortality, resurrection, and as such is a symbol of rebirth and renewal familiar from Greek and Roman art, and may symbolize Christ's Resurrection. Its use is seen here in Leonardo’s “Madonna with a Pomegranate.”
10. strawberry
Righteousness and good works. Also a symbol of fertility because of its many seeds and thus a symbol of celebration of marriage. In “Garden of Earthly Delights” Hieronymous Bosch included a gigantic, over-sized strawberry around which a group has formed a circle, and is balancing and playing with as though it were a balloon. The accepted interpretation is that Bosch was using it as a sign of voluptuousness
Source:
Bailey, Colin J. The Art Quiz Book: 2000+ Questions on Painters and Paintings. Station Press: Scotland, 1995.
