The knight with flowers

Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse, The knight with flowers, 1894, Musée d'Orsay, Paris

Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse,a painter of symbolist and later orientalist reveries, gained considerable recognition during his lifetime. Like his fellow Symbolists, the artist admired the work of Wagner, to whom he owed the theme of Parsifal, which inspired him for this painting.
The knight, the protagonist of the romantic Grail quest, is depicted in a fantastic and exuberant nature. The stems of the Asparagus foliage in the floral composition represent the broad meadow of the painting. The chaste hero Parsifal looks away from the charms of the enchanted garden through which he passes. Desperate to win his favour, a nebula of flower girls encircles him. Their two-tone flesh, white and pink, resembles Antigua carnations. Blooming from the jade-green flowerbed like delicate summer buds, they mingle with the floral patterns they are covered with. The pale yellow of the Chrysanthemums and the orange of the carnations and euphorbias evoke the foliage, which rushes up the same branches, surrounding a back and then a chest.
Finally, in a seductive rhythm, pink, parma or violet flowers are pressed against the warrior's armour, echoing the purple Lisianthus and the purple carnations.
Rochegrosse paints an enamoured and carnal nature, which our florists suggest with a harmonious bouquet animated by open and charming petals.

Aquarelle's artisan florists and the Ecole du Louvre have collaborated to create a capsule collection of flower bouquets inspired by the works of art of the master painters.
In the same way that a painter uses canvas, paint brushes and paints for their creation, our florists have conceived and composed the bouquets of the collection with a fresh floral colour palette.
They apply the same approach, using similar gestures to create a unique and personal creation.
The aim? To put art at the heart of the everyday, in order to discover or rediscover paintings through bouquets which translate the colours, style and spirit of the artwork.

Height of the bouquet : 45 cm
Painting : Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse,The knight with flowers, 1894
photo credits : Masterpics / Alamy Stock Photo