Blowing Rose, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam 

Edmund Dulac crafted this artwork, "Blowing Rose," as an illustration for The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The rose, the dominant symbol, is laden with meaning, suggesting love, beauty, and the ephemeral nature of life. Notice how Dulac places the woman amidst a garden overflowing with roses. These roses are not merely decorative; they echo motifs found in ancient Greek art where roses symbolized Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Consider Botticelli's "Birth of Venus," where roses fall from the heavens, connecting divine beauty with earthly love. The gesture of blowing petals is a powerful one, signifying release, perhaps even a lament for lost beauty. From antiquity to today, the blowing gesture transcends mere action, embodying intense emotional states. It’s an act that, through history, resurfaces and evolves, laden with new meanings, yet always retaining a link to its origins.