Muskusroos en komkommer 1617

This engraving of a musk rose and cucumber was created by Crispijn van de Passe the Younger. Note how the rose, a symbol long associated with love and beauty, contrasts with the cucumber, often linked to fertility and even, humorously, to male inadequacy. Consider the rose: its thorns, a clear signal of pain intertwined with pleasure, have been evoked by poets from Sappho to Rilke. Now, cast your mind back to Botticelli’s Venus, adorned with roses as she emerges from the sea—an icon of beauty born from primal chaos. Even now the rose transcends its original context and continues to evolve in contemporary art and culture. The pairing of the rose and cucumber presents a curious interplay of desire and symbolism that invites us to delve deeper into the ever-evolving nature of visual memory.