The Christian religious western paintings adopt the palm tree in two major narratives in the life of Jesus: the Flight to Egypt and his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem at the start of the Passion. The martyrs were often shown holding a palm frond as an attribute. Uncommon in the areas of the Roman Campaigna in which landscape painting flourished, the palm tree in the secular landscape paintings of the Mediterranean coast, appear in the 19th century, when they became popular plant In classical mythological painting is a sacred sign of Apollo, who was born under a palm tree on the island of Delos.

1. Palm trees
in Western paintings

2. The Christian religious western paintings adopt the palm tree in two major narratives in the life of Jesus:
the Flight to Egypt and his triumphal entrance into Jerusalem at the start of the Passion.
The martyrs were often shown holding a palm frond as an attribute.
Uncommon in the areas of the Roman Campaigna in which landscape painting flourished, the palm tree in the secular
landscape paintings of the Mediterranean coast, appear in the 19th century, when they became popular plant.
In classical mythological painting is a sacred sign of Apollo, who was born under a palm tree on the island of Delos.

3. ... and the palm tree stands there, between eternity and mortality, to remind us the divinity and the fragility of our nature

7. When the van Eyck brothers painted this altarpiece of the triumph of the mystic lamb,
they surrounded it with four processions that converge towards it ...
the procession of the virgin martyrs and holy women is dominated by the palms
they hold in their hands, according to the vision of Revelation:
"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm
branches in their hands." Revelation 7:9
Jan van Eyck
The Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, The Ghent Altarpiece,
L’Adoration de l'Agneau mystique, Autel de Gand, Procession des saintes femmes
1432
Cathedral of St Bavo, Ghent

9. The Virgin Mary,
infant Saint John the Baptist,
an angel,
and
baby Jesus
Here there are no thrones; instead there are the rocks of a grotto, reflected in limpid waters,
decorated by leaves of various kinds from different plants with floral symbolism,
intended to emphasize purity and glory.
A small detail is hidden in this painting:
the palm tree, whose fronds are fashioned in such a way as if to echo precisely the contours
of an scallop shell;
palm leaves are associated with the flight to Egypt, and with the Passion,
and the proposition that resemble the contours of a open scallop shell,
leads to a another symbolic realm altogether.
Leonardo da Vinci, Léonard de Vinci
La Vierge, l'Enfant Jésus, saint Jean Baptiste et un ange, dit La Vierge aux rochers
Virgin of the Rocks
1483-1494
Musée du Louvre, Paris

13. Mary is led to the house of her parents, where she is received by musicians,
and
a palm frond juts out from the bay window of the house as an allusion to the imminent
birth of the Lord
Giotto di Bondone
No. 12 Scenes from the Life of the Virgin: 6. Wedding Procession
La Procession de mariage de la Vierge
1304-1306
Cappella Scrovegni (Arena Chapel), Padua

16. The angel offers the palm branch to the Virgin …
- the Palma mortis , an emblem of death and a symbol of paradise to come.
Duccio di Buoninsegna
Maestà, Announcement of Death to the Virgin
Maestà, Annonce de la mort de la Vierge
1308-1311
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Siena

20. The dove of Holy Spirit,
the Angel,
the Virgin, who bends accepting his duty submissively;
Adam and Eve are being sent out of Paradise by the angel.
The meaning is clear: the coming of Christ as promised by the Annunciation
will redeem the sin of the first children;
a flowered garden representing the virginity of Mary ("hortus conclusus"),
inhabited by a multitude of plants:
between the species with symbolic values, we can recognize
the red roses referring the blood of the Passion
and
the palm, representing the future martyrdom of Christ
Fra Angelico
The Annunciation
L'Annonciation
1430-1432
Museo del Prado, Madrid

25. On the banks of the Jordan River ...
John the Baptist, holding a staff with a gold cross,
Jesus praying barefoot in the river,
a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit,
a bright-eyed raptor that can be interpreted as an enemy of the Holy Spirit,
two kneeling angels, one holding Jesus’s garment, and the other with its hands folded
and
the palm tree, symbol of salvation and life
(Some art historians discern the hands of other members of Verrocchio's workshop
in the painting. The palm tree is clumsy and a bit crude – probably the hand of yet
another pupil.)
Andrea del Verrocchio, Léonard de Vinci
The Baptism of Christ
Le Baptême du Christ
1472-1475
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

29. Clouds in the skies and the soft hills with the palm tree of the lost Eden ...
“Christ knelt down and prayed. Father, he said, if you are willing, take this cup away
from me." ,
the cherubs on a cloud showing Jesus the cross of his near Passion,
the apostles Peter, James and John sleeping on the ground,
a band of soldiers, led by Judas, emerges from the city gates to arrest him
...
The tree next to the trunk has no leaves, it is a symbol of death and so is the raven
at the top of the tree
and
pelicans and young shoots symbolize hope for the future.
Andrea Mantegna
Agony in the Garden
L'Agonie dans le jardin
1455-1456
National Gallery, London

33. The Virgin Mary and Saint Elizabeth meet, recognize and embrace each other ...
balconies decorated in a festive way, with carpets on the balustrades,
men busy with various activities, observe the scene,
an white rabbit that symbolizes the chastity of the Virgin and her motherhood,
an red parrot that refers to the mystery of the incarnation of Christ
and
the palm trees and the gentle Venetian hills illuminated by the fog ...
Vittore Carpaccio
The Visitation
Visitation
1504-1506
Galleria Franchetti, Ca' d'Oro, Venice

36. Considered as an unbreakable plant that only bows before Christ ...
a palm tree miraculously bends over and allows St Joseph to pick its fruit ...
(The Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, perhaps 7th-century, describes this scene,
also called the "miracle of the palm-tree".)
Netherlandish School, École néerlandaise
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
Repos pendant la fuite en Égypte
1500
Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool

39. The Holy Family resting on their flight into Egypt under a palm and pomegranate tree,
the Infant Saint John the Baptist presents a cross to the Christ Child,
a pomegranate, symbolic of Christ’s resurrection, in the foreground.
...
The palm tree is symbol of the Passion, representing the palm fronds that would pave
the road on Christ's final entry into Jerusalem.
Fra Bartolomeo
The Rest on the Flight into Egypt with St. John the Baptist
Le Repos pendant la fuite en Égypte avec saint Jean-Baptiste
1509
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

42. Mary and Joseph together with the Holy Child prepare to take a rest ...
The lush landscape, full of leafy trees and crossed by a river,
does not resemble the region that must cross those from Israel must
pass on their way to Egypt.
The palm tree is a vague indication that the road leads directly
to this distant land.
Jacopo Tintoretto, Le Tintoret
The Flight into Egypt
La Fuite en Égypte
1582
Sala terrena, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice

46. Awe-inspiring and powerful ...
the Virgin Mary hovers in the skies, atop a globe,
the mirror, illustrates the belief that she is completely without blemish
and that she herself is the mirror of all virtues,
the crescent moon refers to the Woman of the Apocalypse in St John's Gospel
and is also a symbol of chastity,
the palm tree in the foreground is a symbol of Mary's victory and superiority over evil
in the world.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
The Immaculate Conception
L'Immaculée Conception
1767-1768
Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid

50. The Virgin Mary,
her mother, Saint Anne,
her father, Saint Joachim,
an (oddly-proportioned) angel,
books symbolizing hope, faith and charity,
the dove that signifies the Holy Spirit
and
the palm branch and thorn on the ground representing Christ
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
The Girlhood of Mary Virgin
L'enfance de la Vierge Marie
1848–1849
The Tate Gallery, London

53. The Second Book of Samuel (chapter 11), the scene of the nude
Bathsheba ...
the King David leans out of the window to see better, in obvious interest,
a peacock walks on the balustrade, a symbol of flirtatious coquetry
and
the town of Jerusalem …
but,
Massys’ Jerusalem is an imaginary town:
the town looks like a town from Tuscany, we also discover the slender
towers that can be seen in Florence and a sturdy tower resembling the
bell tower of a Flemish city …
but,
the town should be in the orient ... so Massys added a few palm trees
Jan Matsys ou Jan Massys ou Jan Massijs
David et Bethsabée
David and Bathsheba
1562
Musée du Louvre, Paris

56. A fine palm tree standing outside a villa near Le Cannet
…
Pierre-Auguste Renoir
Le Palmier
The Palm tree
1902
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

58. Palm trees surrounded by lush nature …
Claude Monet
Palmiers à Bordighera
Palm Trees in Bordighera
1884
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

60. "I set up in a fairyland ... "
palm trees and a church tower in the background
Claude Monet
Jardin à Bordighera, impression de matin
Garden at Bordighera, Impression of Morning
1884
Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg

63. A coastal landscape of great beauty ...
Aeneas, prince of Troy, dressed in an orange cloak, arrived with his father,
son Ascanius, and companions on the island of Delos, home of the god Apollo.
Anius, the King of Delos, dressed in white, gestures to an olive and palm,
two trees sacred to Apollo,
his mother, Leto, clung to these trees while giving birth to Apollo and his sister Diana
(Metamorphoses, VI: 335–6).
...
The twin trees, an olive and palm, now provide shade for a shepherd and his flock
of sheep.
Claude Lorrain
Landscape with Aeneas at Delos
Paysage avec Enée à Délos
1672
The National Gallery, London

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Palm trees in Western paintings
Le palmier dans la peinture occidentale
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