Lot 580
580
DEVOTIONALIA -- "DESE SPRUIJT WAST IN INDIE IN CUSCO en[de] wert aldaer genoemt de Passie ons Heeren, Ende is een wonder voor onsen ogen. Psal(m?)". 17th c. (?). Anonymous tinted etching of the passion flower printed on vellum, captioned in the plate. 75 x 110 mm.
Very rare representation of the passion flower. Its individual features were found to be symbolic of the crucifixion of Christ/Passion of Christ. The first European report on passion fruit was by Cieza de León in 1553, when he was an official in Colombia. In 1569, Nicolás Monardes, a physician in Spain, associated the passion flower morphology with the crucifixion of Christ, because the flower has spikes protruding from the center, symbolizing the crown of thorns. Subsequently, the passion fruit flower was used by early missionaries in Brazil as an illustrative aid in an effort to convert the indigenous population to Christianity. - Rare, no other copy found by us.€ 200
result € 600
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