The Flower Book - Arbor Tristis1905 Accession number: 1953P5.28 Colour facsimile. Collotype print. InformationA page from the facsimile edition of Burne-Jones' Flower Book, one of 38 watercolour designs reproduced by Henri Piazza et Cie, for the Fine Art Society, London in 1905.'Arbor Tristis' literally means 'Tree of Gloom' and refers to mistletoe (Viscom album). Mistletoe, usually a symbol of the joyful Christmas season, has common names which denote the sadness of Lent: 'Wood of the Cross', 'Herbe de la Croi', and 'Holy Wood'. There is no comparable image to 'Arbor Tristis' in Burne-Jones's oeuvre, although he did paint a completely unrelated subject with a similar title, 'Tree of Forgiveness' (Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight, Merseyside, 1882).
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