Over the xmas break I found the sketches I did for that Fruits of Our Culture series back in 2019, a
Over the xmas break I found the sketches I did for that Fruits of Our Culture series back in 2019, aaand decided to finally get round to properly drawing some of them! So….here is FIGS*!*(The type of figs prevalent around the Mediterranean and Middle East, not the kind of figs in south and east asia, I’ll get to those another time hopefully) Now considered a symbol of the womb, figs have been cultivated since the VERY OLD TIMES.Fig leaves were iconically worn by Adam and Eve, who in some non western translations of the Bible, ate the forbidden FIGS, not apples. Figs are also from heaven, according to the Quran.Long before that, fig wood was used by the ancient Egyptians for mummy ‘coffins’, while the fruit was a symbol of the Earth goddess Hathor. In ancient greece, figs were a major symbol of the wine god Dionysus, and he and his followers wore wreaths made of fig leaves. Dionysus, who was also worshipped as a fertility god, was likely associated with figs because they look kinda like testicles; in ancient greek, the word for ‘fig’ is the same as the word for ‘testicle’. Necklaces of dried figs were also worn by the castrated priests of Attis.Fast-forward many centuries to Romulus and Remus, the Rome-founding twins of Roman myth. They were nursed by a wolf, after being born under the shade of a fig tree.Something fascinating and also Actually Real Science Fact about Figs is their relationship with the tiny fig wasps, on which they are entirely dependant. Over the millennia they have evolved to require only these wasps for their peculiar method of pollination. The fig flower-reproductive parts are inside the unripe fig bud, which the queen burrows into to lay her eggs - then die. The males hatch, mate with the unborn sisters, then also die. The pregnant females hatch and in all this process, the fig is pollinated. The females then burrow OUT of the fig to go lay eggs in another fig. The dead wasps are absorbed into the flesh of the ripening fig.So there’s some cool stuff about delicious wasp-fleshed FIGS that I made into a picture.Check my blog for the others in the series….Apple, Strawberry, Orange, Pomegranate, Pear, and Grapes. Olive and Cherry coming asap! You can buy the original of this artwork hereAnd the whole series as prints, here! PS I’m also going to release the line-work from this series as colouring pages. Would you prefer a downloadable digital file, or to buy an actual print? Please let me know! _LINKS - instagram - KoFi - my NEW store - my Etsy store - Redbubble - webcomic - portfolio - behance - -- source link
#dionysus#hathor#romulus#botanical#botanical illustration#illustration#fruit illustration#mythology#greek mythology#ancient greece#ancient egypt#roman empire#greek gods#she-wolf