22-09-2016, 10:04 AM
Sam, I have indeed seen a number of those, but had not yet made the link. This one shows beautifully how the way the plant is arranged along the page would have reminded the viewers of the way grapes are grown. Nice find!
This makes me think about the way Diane usually describes the large plants as referring to several plants at once. It took me a long time to adapt my mind to that way of thinking, but looking into Dionysian imagery and reading about it, I have learned that grape vines and "wild" vines were basically the same thing to the ancients. One was just wild and the other cultivated.
It might be the case then, that this image, apart from for example Smilax aspera, also refers to the grape, or at least a similarly cultivated crop. Or it was meant to remind the viewer of the way grapes are cultivated.
This makes me think about the way Diane usually describes the large plants as referring to several plants at once. It took me a long time to adapt my mind to that way of thinking, but looking into Dionysian imagery and reading about it, I have learned that grape vines and "wild" vines were basically the same thing to the ancients. One was just wild and the other cultivated.
It might be the case then, that this image, apart from for example Smilax aspera, also refers to the grape, or at least a similarly cultivated crop. Or it was meant to remind the viewer of the way grapes are cultivated.