he rose as symbol—ancient, fertile—needs
in our time a rescue from the banality into which florists
and greeting cards have cast it. A look, first, at the Latin
phrase sub rosa is instructive. In ancient Rome, a wild
rose would be placed on the door of a room where secret
matters were discussed. This association of the rose with
something clandestine appeals to me; love is better off
secret, not fulsomely displayed.
Artistically speaking, two visual interpretations of the
rose, over a century between them, come vividly to mind.
The first are the gesso panels created at the turn of the
twentieth century by Glasgow artist Margaret MacDonald
Mackintosh for her husband, architect Charles Rennie
Mackintosh's interiors for Glasgow tearooms and private
residences. Indeed, this less famous Mackintosh was
T
Reborn, Reborn, 2013 2013
HYLAND
