SHORT Art diary • FRANCISCO DE ZURBARÁN, A Cup of Water and a Rose, 1630, National Gallery, London

TRADUZIONE IN ITALIANO ▶️ "In this small and intimate painting – it only measures around 20 by 30 cm – everyday objects appear monumental and take on a mystical intensity. On a tabletop or ledge, a ceramic cup of water with delicately curved handles sits in the centre of a shiny metal plate, made of pewter or silver. A rose in full bloom balances on the plate’s edge. That these objects have religious significance would have been immediately obvious to devout Spanish viewers in the seventeenth century. The cup full of water was seen as a symbol of purity of the Virgin Mary, having been the one chosen by God to give birth to Christ. The rose is also often associated with Mary, and its thornlessness may refer to the Immaculate Conception (the belief that she was conceived without sin). According to the third-century saint, Ambrose, the roses in the Garden of Eden only grew thorns after Adam and Eve had sinned. The rose – and lily, another flower associated with the Virgin – also app...