Page two from 'Flora's Feast', Queen Flora

Category

Library Item

Item no

40127

Title

Page two from 'Flora's Feast', Queen Flora

Description

Illustration of Queen Flora dressed in classical robes in her garden. Holding her staff aloft she summons the advent of spring. The accompanying text reads:
"The sullen winter nearly spent,
Queen Flora to her garden went,
To call the flowers from their long sleep,
The year's glad festivals to keep".

Artist / maker

Crane, Walter

Date

1902

Size

25.0 x 18.5 cm

Type

Publisher's print

Location

Art and Design Library

In the image of the titular figure it becomes clear that what follows will be a procession of various flowers. It was common for Crane and his contemporaries to use a female figure to personify natural phenomena, such as his depictions of the four seasons in 'Floral Fantasy in an Old English Garden' from 1898, and elsewhere the figure of Spring became a politicised image in the rise of socialism. The symbol of the garden is also loaded with political meaning as not only was it to represent the utopian society under socialism, but it also represented Crane's views regarding artistic creation. According to Morna O'Neill, Crane wrote about the similarities between the role of gardener and artist, emphasising the artistry required of the former and the physical engagement that should be encouraged in the latter (1).

It is also apparent that Crane has taken the format of the book into consideration. Each flower is confined to one page and they appear in chronological order according to their blooming season, therefore the act of progressing through the book mimics the act of a procession.

(1) Morna O'Neill, 'Walter Crane's Floral Fantasy: The Garden in Arts and Crafts Politics', Garden History, Vol.36, No.2 (2008), p.297.

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Related subjects

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Hair ornaments

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Necklaces

Clothing and dress > Accessories > Staffs

Clothing and dress > Garments > Dresses

Clothing and dress > Garments > Robes

People > Politics and government > Queens

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