The apple in art

Some clues 

When I say apple, we think of both the taste of its tender and sweet flesh and the story of iconic characters who have tasted it, like those in fairy tales, myths, legends, and the Bible. Consider the fruit featured in Snow White, the Apple of Discord awarded by Paris to Aphrodite, the apple from the Garden of the Hesperides, and the extremely well-known apple from the Garden of Eden picked by Eve. Besides the meanings the fruit takes in these contexts, we can add that from the psychoanalytic world, where the apple is thought to evoke the shape of the female breast, a source of nourishment, as well as an undisputed object of seduction. Once again, the apple finds itself balanced between the symbolic meanings of prosperity and fertility and those inexorably linked to the concepts of sin, temptation, and danger. Setting aside all the above examples for a moment, the most popular apple today is perhaps that of Apple, interpreted by many as a logo designed to allude to the story of Alan Turing, who ended his life by eating, indeed, a poisoned apple. This brief introduction has within it some clues in bold typeface, to be understood as the key words, that will tie in with the themed artworks presented below, ready to reveal the apple in its many symbolic meanings.

1)Snow White 

It was not very easy to find the fairy tale of Snow White in painting, but eventually I came across the themed work of Hans Makart (1840 – 1884), an Austrian academic painter of the 19th century, as well as a designer and decorator. The typical aestheticism of the "magician of colors," famous for his brilliant chromaticism and fluid forms, through which he brought his allegorical and historical paintings to life, now animate the sleeping body of the girl in question, who, very likely, has recently bitten the poisoned apple, the great absentee of the pictorial support in The Sleeping Snow White (1872).

2)Judgment of Paris 

In Greek mythology, the Judgment of Paris is a fundamental event that contributed to triggering the Trojan War. But before getting to this last disastrous event, it's necessary to explain briefly: everything began when Zeus organized a lavish banquet to celebrate the imminent marriage of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles. However, Eris, the goddess of discord, did not receive an invitation and was indignant at this affront. In response, she went to the banquet and threw a golden apple with the inscription "to the fairest." This simple act caused a violent dispute between three of the Olympian goddesses: Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, all convinced they were the fairest, decided to turn to Zeus to resolve the dispute and choose the most charming goddess. However, Zeus, unable to make a decision, determined that only the most handsome among mortals could judge. This lucky mortal was Paris, a young prince of Troy, who at the time led a shepherd's life among the sheep and was yet unaware of his destiny. Hermes was tasked with bringing the three goddesses to Paris, each of whom promised the mortal a reward in exchange for the apple: Athena offered wisdom and invincibility in battle, Hera promised wealth and unlimited power, so much so that with a single gesture he could subdue entire populations and achieve immense glory that would make his name shine among the stars. Aphrodite, on the other hand, guaranteed him the love of the world's most beautiful woman. Paris chose Aphrodite as the winner, enraging the other two goddesses. The goddess of love then helped Paris abduct Helen, the beautiful wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. This, precisely, was the event that triggered the legendary Trojan War. What has just been narrated in words was skillfully and succinctly expressed through the brush by artists of the caliber of, for example, Raphael and Pieter Paul Rubens. Regarding the Italian master, his themed drawing, unfortunately lost, has come down to us through the engraving of Marcantonio Raimondi, known as the first engraver who dedicated himself almost exclusively to the reproduction of works by famous artists. Raphael's The Judgment of Paris follows the Roman examples of the myth, giving life to a composition in which several figurative groups are portrayed, taking shape within an idyllic landscape. At the center of the work, however, we find the protagonists of the story, namely Paris and the three goddesses, captured at the moment when Aphrodite was crowned the fairest, eliciting the reaction of her antagonists.

3)Garden of the Hesperides 

The Garden of the Hesperides is a legendary place in Greek mythology, known for being given by Gaia to Zeus, who in turn gave it to Hera as a wedding gift. Speaking of apples, in this place grew an apple tree with golden fruits, guarded by both the dragon Ladon and the three Hesperides. Among the many artistic representations of this context, a 3rd century AD Roman mosaic and Rubens' Hercules in the Garden of the Hesperides stand out, although the most famous example remains Botticelli's Primavera. This masterpiece is set in the aforementioned grove, where the Three Graces are identified as the nymphs of the Garden of the Golden Apples.

4)Garden of Eden 

The Garden of Eden needs no introduction, so I will move directly to the description of the work I have chosen to talk about this biblical place: in two separate panels, we see the first human beings depicted against a dark background, with just the ground visible under their feet. Both are portrayed covering their private parts with twigs. Eve holds the forbidden fruit, an apple, and a snake approaches from above, hanging from the tree of life. Gracefully, she offers the fruit to Adam, who has a relaxed and casual attitude, almost leaning on the edge of the painting, with his right elbow raised. Their nudity, rendered with remarkable anatomical precision, is portrayed with total naturalness. Nevertheless, the work completely departs from Renaissance art tendencies, as the figures' proportions do not follow classical ideals, and Eve's fragile, articulated, and elongated body rather recalls the figures of the International Gothic style. However, hinting at the influence of Florentine culture on the Flemish master in question, comes the way in which the woman's affable smile is painted, wisely accompanied by the gesture of holding the fruit of sin. What I have just described is Lucas Cranach the Elder's Adam and Eve (1528), housed in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

5)Psychoanalysis 

In the introduction, we talked about psychoanalysis, the theory of the unconscious of the human psyche, which has largely inspired the subjects of surrealist pictorial narrative, associable to the subject of apples, through the mention of Magritte's The Son of Man (1964). Regarding this masterpiece, the Belgian master conceived it as a self-portrait, where, however, his face is largely obscured by a suspended green apple. It is this unlikely overlay that links art, surrealism, and the apple to Freud's theories, particularly his concept of estrangement, according to which real subjects and landscapes, which combine in a completely improbable way, lead us to grapple with the automatisms of the mind, fostering a new imaginative capacity of reality. Moreover, Magritte's words about the same masterpiece reveal other ways our brain operates, similarly evoked by the presence of the apple: "At least it partially hides the face. So, there you have the apparent face, the apple, hiding what is visible yet hidden, namely the person's face. It's something that happens constantly. Everything we see hides something else, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see. There is an interest in what is hidden and what the visible does not show us. This interest can take the form of a quite intense feeling, a kind of conflict, one might say, between what is hidden in the visible and what is present in the visible."

6)Apple

We have arrived at the last keyword of our story, which I have chosen to mention by merging the biblical verb with contemporary art, today's world, and, precisely, the Apple brand. My purpose was made possible by identifying a work of art borrowed from the rich database of Artmajeur, which presents all the content mentioned above: Expelled from Paradise (2022) by Maria Petroff. The artist's painting has brought Adam and Eve, just after their fall, and therefore just after eating the apple, into the world we know, placing them inside a subway car, where, naked, they are accompanied by an Apple computer and a snake with the face of Steve Jobs. The latter, in respect of his identity, is interested in looking exclusively at the monitor of the technological device, while Adam tenderly and admiringly stares at Eve, who appears to be preoccupied with other thoughts. The subway car is empty, as it is hosting the first two human beings ever existed, who enjoy the means without crowding into them, getting off at some unknown stop in New York. In fact, it is Maria Petroff herself, in the description of her painting, who wants to specify how everything takes place in the Big Apple, perhaps chosen once again to cite the fruit of sin in question.

Other Apples 

Beyond the above narration, the apple in art history has also appeared in still lifes, portraits, and religious paintings depicting the Virgin with the child. Examples of the first two genres can be Paul Cézanne's Still Life with Apples (1890) and Raphael's Portrait of a Young Man with an Apple (1505). Regarding the Madonna, instead, I immediately thought of the Madonna and Child (1460-65) by Giovanni Bellini, housed in the Pinacoteca of the Sforza Castle in Milan. The masterpiece, dating back to the artist's early period, when he was still open to dialogue with Mantegna, depicts the Virgin in a pink cloak, holding the Child leaning on a balustrade. The subjects, while not crossing their gazes, are very intimate, which can be seen from their intertwined gestures. Jesus, lovingly supported by Mary, grabs an apple with one hand, transforming the fruit of the symbol of Original Sin into a detail alluding to his subsequent and due Passion. This symbolic language is then reinforced by the melancholic gaze of the Madonna, a figure already fully aware of the tragic fate of her son.