Asparagus

In the sharp light entering from the side, these asparagus seem almost transparent. The thick bunch is tied together with a cord, a single stem lying apart under the rest. Adriaen Coorte (active in Middelburg, Zeeland) painted asparagus several times. The reason for this eccentric choice was the seventeenth-century predilection for sexual symbolism. The shape of the asparagus is, after all, phallic. Asparagus were also considered to have aphrodisiac qualities. Coorte painted this still life on paper, pasted onto a panel. Why he chose this method is unclear.