The Blue Drop Cafè:
Oggi sul menù: Hot water with lemon or tea ?
I know what you are thinking.
Let the difference be minimal.
These are hot drinks, restaurants and that are good for many things, especially if drunk in the right circumstances.
But in this case, the real difference is not so much the drink as the work in question. This is the very classic distinction between a work of the seventeenth century against one of the twentieth.
In this case the glass, the context but also and above all the meaning that these drinks have offered to the public changes.
Let’s start with the oldest:
A cup elegantly painted by the Spanish Francisco de Zurbarán in 1630, entitled “Cup of water and a rose on a silver plate“.
The still life of 1630 (the “bodegona” in spanish language ) is a silent, hermetic painting moment.
Given the spiritual nature of de Zurbarán’s works and the fixed presence of the Christian element in his creative process, it is difficult to believe that this is only a purely diner scene. In fact, although the infusion of fruit and herbs was a well-known practice even in those days to prepare good teas, it is difficult to imagine an infusion with only a rose. But it is not to be excluded.
It would almost make you think of a baptismal font, with the rose next to it, a symbol known throughout the history of art as a symbol of the Virgin. The silver plate is an added honor, a way to enhance still life and give it preciousness.
All very intriguing for a simple cup of tea. If the hypothesis of the Christian sub-text had its own truthfulness, it could be said that one of the painter’s goals was also to inspire in a very subliminal way the idea of spiritual well-being, through simple and everyday elements.
Taking a leap of a few centuries, we see Roy Lichtenstein‘s work with “Untitled (Still life with lemon and glass)” from 1974.
Roy Lichtenstein is considered the cartoonist of American popular culture from the postwar years to the 1970s.
His scenes represent the simplicity of the aesthetic reading and the immediacy of the concept that reaches (and must arrive) to any social class, with an ironic aftertaste as well.
Lichtenstein’s still lifes take voice from many artistic schools, always with his unique style, but in the case of this image it seems to recall still lifes composed of only inanimate elements, such as those of the Flemish or the eighteenth century.
What we see is practically the same scene painted by Francisco de Zurbarán, only transformed in time and intention. A container with water and an element next to it to give flavor (in these cases also meanings).
Lemon has traditionally been associated with salvation for its healing properties.
Interesting and tasty coincidence.
So you say: Hot water with lemon or tea?
The Blue Drop Cafè
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