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Orchis Mascula
A minute for history:
Orchis Mascula, a wonderful illustration from an old botanical book.
Artist : W. Heubach.
Book title: Leitfaden Derek Botanik printed by A. Pichlers Witwe & Sohn, Wien, 1905
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Gros Noir d’Hiver is another name for winter radish. Can you imagine that among the hobbies of nobleman at the French court was breeding ? And even more weird, the plant they were interested in was a simple winter radish they named many aristocratic names? French revolution of course didn’t have inclination for such frivolities and so we can eat only simple winter radish now. Which relates us to the Egiptian workmen on pyramids, in a sense, as radishes were their food, too. Herodotus wrote about it ,leaving the question how similar to the slaves are we today up to us……
Citation: Many noblemen in the French court bred different varieties, so many types of radishes had aristocratic names. In the fallout of the French Revolution these names were dropped, causing even more confusion when trying to trace how certain modern radishes are related to the older ones. from: http://academics.hamilton.edu/foodforthought/Our_Research_files/radishes.pdf
On the pyramid it is declared in Egyptian writing how much was spent on radishes and onions and leeks for the workmen, and if I rightly remember that which the interpreter said in reading to me this inscription, a sum of one thousand six hundred talents of silver was spent; and if this is so, how much besides is likely to have been expended upon the iron with which they worked, and upon bread and clothing for the workmen, seeing that they were building the works for the time which has been mentioned and were occupied for no small time besides, as I suppose, in the cutting and bringing of the stones and in working at the excavation under the ground?
Read more: http://www.touregypt.net/herodotuskhufu.htm#ixzz2srfzyWaZ
Young Woman At A Window Pealing Radishes, by: Jacobus Johannes Lauwers , from: http://www.wikigallery.org/wiki/painting_377064/Jacobus-Johannes-Lauwers/page-1
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Talking about my botanical garden I try to present the abundance of flora variety all over different places be it my garden, botanical garden in my city or gardens in places I’ve visited.I’ve found plants in art , pictures,music or literature,they make me happy when made of glass or pictured on a porcelain piece, I’ve actually seen plants everywhere.But what would it look like without plants? Thinking about a place without plants I recognized a place I not only have known for a long time but that has since forever been one of my favorite places.It actually is one of the most beautiful piazzas I’ve ever seen. Although very small it bears certain grandiousness in it .This may be due to its date of origin,it may be because so many centuries have passed since 16-th century when this piazza was built , that times passed since then left delicate imprint of far forgotten sorrows in the walls of the palaces surrounding the white stone pavement made of Istrian stone with some petrified plants and fishes as fossils giving the invisible pattern to the stone bricks shining after so many centuries as water surface mirroring the history of Adriatic coast.And the history is rich here ,indeed.After prehistoric settlements were abandoned the Romans build their villas here to trade with olive oil and vine not recognising when history turned in favour of Venetian republic when magnificent Praetor palace was built to host many praetors,captains and city municipality.Venetian dodges visiting their province took part of their siesta behind these white stone walls letting only the tiny sound of a letter falling trough the stone bocca to disturb them for a minute.Bell from the nearby church was loud as pigeons flew back to Piazza San Marco in Venice, leaving behind the magnificent Loggia Caffe where first coffee in this part of the world has been served far before Stendhal arrived to sip his coffee in Loggia overarching the mirror of white stone plaza staying calm despite centuries passing by without any flowers to decorate the place.Tourists like to come here today,me among them,capturing the moment of petrified time and listening to the silence of history.Having my machiatto there last Saturday ,observing old inhabitants of the city smoothly crossing thee empty plaza to buy the first wild asparagus in the market behind the place, I’ve discovered that even here beauty of plants stands by my side,paradoxically, decorating this white emptiness of the white beauty of stone elements.I had only to rise up my eyes to recognize the plants carved in stone, talking without words about an old stoneccuter loving his garden enough to leave an imprint of flora known to him in decorations of pilasters, portals and windows.Turns out this entirely shiny emptiness of plaza actually does bear beauty of plants with it, to stand here against centuries ,bringing calm to visitors, in spite of tiny weeds trying to survive in this world dedicated to stone carvings as memories of words lost far before.
The Praetor’s Palace in the central Koper Square (Slovenia)
Caffe Loggia
My Botanical Garden 