STORY BEHIND THE ART OF INGRID FINNAN

Weird, Wild, & Wonderful

Second New York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition

2014 - 2016

Vine-Leafed Passion Flower

Passiflora vitifolia

Coming upon the massive tangled vines of the Passiflora vitifolia in full bloom at the Conservatory of the New York Botanical Garden always takes my breath away. Over the years I contemplated painting a specimen of the striking flower, but the prospect seemed too daunting. More recently, with the help of a garden curator, I got some small cuttings and set to work to capture a bit of the plant in a painting. 

The Spanish Conquistadors came upon the flower in the New World and interpreted it as a sign from God that the land was ripe for conversion to the European religion and culture. Their Jesuit priests named it the the “Passion Flower” and assigned religious symbolism to its various parts to tell the story of the Crucifixion. For example, the corona represents the crown of thorns, the three stigmas represent the nails, the ten petals and sepals represent ten disciples, etc. The specimen in the New York Botanical Garden is identified as native from “Nicaragua to Ecuador, Columbia and Peru.”

In today’s world, the flower has lost its religious symbolism but not its beauty. The history attributed to the flower, its gorgeous crimson blooms, and its rich dark green three-lobed leaves certainly qualify it to be considered weird, wild and wonderful.

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Read more about this artist's work:  16th Annual International