1. María Elena Lavie, La Amapola (“Poppy”), 1993. Acrylic on Canvas, 180 x 130 cm. Lavie’s paintings engage with many of Venezuela’s artistic traditions including the Spanish viceregal art of her country’s Hispanic and Republican periods (mid-16 th c. – mid-19 th c.). In this Imperial, Catholic, artistic tradition red poppies often served as reminders of Christ’s impending sacrifice and bloodshed. This botanical symbolism was drawn from European Renaissance paintings and prints brought over by Spanish missionaries and explorers. Prior to conquest, many of Tierra Firme’s local populations already recognized certain flowers, such as the Andean cantuta (a) and ñunnchu, as symbols of life-giving blood. This rendered the Old World poppy an easily relatable signifier. (Left) Spanish viceregal art, Cuzco School, Lord of the Fall, ca. 1730- 1750. Oil on canvas, 51 x 39 in. Lima Museum, Lima. (Right) European Renaissance Art, Raphael, Madonna del Praeto (“Madonna of the Meadow”), 1506. Oil on canvas, 67.3 x 86.4 cm. Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. Roses, a Classical symbol of Aphrodite’s beauty and love, were adapted to represent Virgin Mary’s beauty and spiritual love in Spanish viceregal art. While Lavie’s rose exhibits fleshy, intimate reds and emphasized pricks, depictions of roses in this tradition were often void of thorns. According to the Book of Genesis, wild thorns and thistles were unleashed upon the earth after mankind’s fall from grace. Consequently, they signified a loss of innocence, sin, and hardship. Due to Immaculate Conception, Mary, the “rose without thorns,” was considered immune from sin. Venezuelan elite women of the colonial period (right) were often shown receiving a thorn-free rose as a symbol of their shared Marian virtues, but also to announce their recent, spiritually condoned marriages. (Left) Antonio Landaeta (Venezuela), Immaculate Conception (with roses in right corner), c. 1785. Oil on board. Denver art museum. (Right) Bartolomé Alonso de Cazales, Teresa Mixares de Solórzano y Tovar, 1722. Oil on canvas, 194,5 x 111.5 cm. Inv. FGAN 0004. Galería de.Arte Nacional, Caracas. 2. María Elena Lavie, Las Rosas de Mariel, 1993. Acrylic on Canvas, 180 x 130 cm. The poetry of early Spanish mystics, a source of creative inspiration for Lavie, often sounds quite intimate, if not erotic to contemporary ears. It also brims with floral references. “The Bride has entered into the pleasant garden of her desire, and at her pleasure rests, her neck reclining on the gentle arms of the Beloved.” - Saint John of the Cross, Spiritual Canticle St. 22. (a)