The very concept of fruit
being Gothic is something of an odd one, let alone the idea of the
strawberry being somehow Gothic. Surely if there were a Gothic fruit
it should be something like the durian – a favourite with Decadents
as it stinks of decay but, at least according to aficionados, tastes
divine. Yet there are a number of intriguing links between the humble
strawberry and the realms of Gothic art and philosophy. Horace Walpole,
author of the first ever Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto in 1764,
called his quaint Gothic retreat Strawberry Hill, but this was little
more than a name with no special significance.
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By way of contrast Heironymous
Bosch, the sixteenth century Flemish artist famous for his grotesque
scenes of Hell, seldom did anything without secret significance. His
paintings are puzzles, squirming with little scenes and symbols that
hint at proverbs,
mottoes and, some say, esoteric wisdom. Huge strawberries feature
prominently when he depicts the follies of earth, such as in the central
panel of his famous Garden of Earthly Delights. This relates to a
Medieval idea that the strawberry is a symbol of earthly pleasure
– because, like pleasures of the flesh, while the strawberry looks
very sweet, it has little flavour which passes quickly. By way of
contrast, is the pious suggestion, that spiritual pleasures are deep
and eternal. |
The strawberry has had other significance to other artists. The Decadent,
nineteenth-century French poet Charles Baudelaire was a drunk and
a drug-addict, but created some of the most beautiful verse ever written.
In ‘The Vampire’ – one of his poetic Flowers of Evil – he describes
the sexy subject of the poem as ‘the woman with the strawberry mouth’.
This tells us not just the vibrant colour of her lips but the way
they make the poet long to taste – perhaps even bite – them. Our strawberry-lipped
seductress gets the last laugh, however, when she reveals her true
form – a leathery pus-filled sack – and sucks the marrow from his
bones. A definite case of look before you lick!...
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