Met klimop begroeide stam van een eik in het bos 1873

Johannes Tavenraat sketched this ivy-covered tree trunk in the forest using graphite on paper. Consider the ancient oak, a symbol of strength and longevity, adorned with ivy. In classical antiquity, ivy was associated with Dionysus, representing ecstasy, fertility, and the cyclical nature of life. Think of the Bacchantes, crowned with ivy, dancing in wild abandon. This motif resurfaces throughout art history, entwined with ideas of nature's vitality and transformative power. Yet, the ivy, while a symbol of eternal life, can also represent clinging, dependence, or even suffocation as it envelops the oak. It evokes a tension between vitality and decay, growth and constraint. Like the serpent coiled around the tree of knowledge, it holds a primal fascination, tapping into our collective anxieties about life's impermanence and the seductive allure of nature's hidden forces. The symbolism conveys powerful and contradictory forces, resonating on a subconscious level, inviting us to confront our deepest fears and desires.