The Lily Garden

The Madonna lily, Pre-Raphaelites and Oxford University

The Madonna lily (Lilium candidum) part of the Liliaceae family, originated in Israel, Palestine and Lebanon, and was dispersed across the eastern Mediterranean by the Phoenicians. Now rare in the wild this flower has acquired great religious and cultural significance, spanning from antiquity to the modern age. The plant was an emblem of the sovereignty of kings of the ancient Assyrian and Egyptian empires. It features predominantly in Cretan frescos from 1600 to 1500 BC, and later in Greek and Roman eras as a symbol of sublime love, procreation and glory. In the Middle Ages the plant became a symbol of purity of soul and chastity and often associated with the Virgin Mary, hence the plant’s common name.

The Madonna lily (Lilium candidum)

Madonna lilies are an important part of Oxford University’s history and feature prominently in European-Mediterranean art through the centuries including the Pre-Raphaelites’ nineteenth century paintings. An example of this is ‘Convent Thoughts’ by artist Charles Allston Collin which hangs in the Ashmolean. Madonna lilies also feature prominently in the design of Magdalen College’s coat of arms.

About the painting

Artist and botanist Dr Chris Thorogood worked with academics and the librarian (Daryl Green) from Magdalen College, and art historians from the Ashmolean, to produce a modern, Pre-Raphaelite-inspired oil painting that highlights the important linkages among art, observational drawing, and scientific accuracy, using the Madonna lily as a model.

The botanical interpretation of the Madonna lilies in this painting is Pre-Raphaelite-inspired for two reasons: firstly because the plant is such an important symbol in the Brotherhood’s work in the nineteenth century; secondly, the Pre-Raphaelites depicted objects from nature scientifically, carefully studying them from nature. Botanical illustration has striking similarities to Pre-Raphaelite work. A discipline ground in close observation, detail, and accuracy to generate aesthetically pleasing and scientifically important art.

A Pre-Raphaelite-inspired botanical illustration, commissioned for the 2018 Flora and Fauna of Magdalen College exhibition. The lilies which feature in the painting were grown at Oxford University and were painted from life. Lilies also feature in the frame.

The Mediterranean backdrop depicts the habitat in which the Madonna lily evolved and still occurs locally to this day. It is vaguely reminiscent of the Classical antiquity of Alma-Tadema’s nineteenth century paintings, which famously depict scenes of the luxury and decadence of the Roman Empire, in a Mediterranean setting.

I have always been inspired by the Pre-Raphaelites’ paintings. When I was a child I remember gazing up at them in the galleries in London. The Lily Garden is borne from a fusion of my life-long passion for the Brotherhood’s art, from my own experience as an artist, and from my field observations as a botanist in the Levant and the Mediterranean. I have strived to capture the plants in this painting with a scientific lens: with detail, botanical fidelity and scientific accuracy — aspects which were so important to the Pre-Raphaelites. — Dr Chris Thorogood

Artist and botanist Dr Chris Thorogood

Madonna lilies and the Pre-Raphaelites

The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was founded in 1848. They revived an archaic style to achieve a particular effect in their paintings. This included the use of symbols that referred to the character of the Virgin. Importantly, they depicted objects from nature scientifically, carefully studying. Indeed plants were depicted with a striking life-like quality more reminiscent of the nineteenth century — an era of photography, and empirical botanical science. Thus the Madonna lily, rather than a stylised symbol, was depicted with remarkable accuracy and detail, depicting the floral structures of tepals and stamens. The accuracy with which these artists depicted plants, and Madonna lilies in particular, is reminiscent of scientific botanical illustration, and an interesting juxtaposition between art, scientific accuracy and symbolism of plants.

The painting will be displayed in the Old Library at Magdalen College until the 10 October 2018. Chris has donated the painting to the College where it will be permanently installed in their new Longwall Library at the end of the exhibition.

Exhibition

The Flora & Fauna of Magdalen College
23 April — 10 October
Wednesday from 2–4:30 pm

Free entry to members of the University.
Members of the public will need to pay the standard admission to the college.

06 September 2018

Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum

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University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum

Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum

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Sharing the scientific wonder and importance of plants with the world

University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum

Sharing the scientific wonder and importance of plants with the world.

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