'There is no rose without thorns' - shared by K J S Chatrath

 

While in Bologna, Italy last month I visited the Pinacoteca Nazionale Di Bologna. Pinacoteca is derived from Greek and means an art gallery.  

I was greatly impressed by this masterpiece. This painting was created by the Bolognese Giuseppe Maria Crespi, an iconic artist who loved genre scenes and was strongly attracted by the faces of the common people in the city.

 It depicts a bewitching young girl clutching to a cat to her chest and holding a rose. , while her hypnotic gaze seduces the viewer as she stares directly into his eyes. The symbolic meaning is clear: the small animal and the flower, though beautiful, soft and delicate, both conceal hidden dangers. The claws and the thorns suggest the perils of love.

In this small canvas, the painter shows all his painting ability in using patches of light and shade, following Guercino’s* models, and manages to give a visual image to the saying ‘there is no rose without thorns’.

*Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, better known as Guercino, or il Guercino was an Italian Baroque painter and draftsman from Cento in the Emilia region, who was active in Rome and Bologna. The vigorous naturalism of his early manner contrasts with the classical equilibrium of his later works. His many drawings are noted for their luminosity and lively style.

(Text sourced from information in the museum and internet)

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