Cypresses before Sunset

Our green guardians

Trees surround us everywhere. In the lap of nature or in the dusty city streets, they are our silent companions whose beautiful foliage and reassuring rustle take away our bad thoughts and give us peace of mind. Since ancient times, people believed that trees have conscience. Our distant ancestors endowed them with magical properties and thought that each tree has a soul. And even though today it all seems to be just an old wives’ tale, contemporary science keeps making amazing discoveries about the mysterious life of trees and their true nature is yet to be discovered.

Cypress symbolism

In many cultures, different trees have symbolic meanings reflected in religious beliefs and folklore art. One the trees particularly often occurring in mystical contexts is the cypress.  Here are some of the most widespread meanings attributed to it:

• - A traditional mourning tree, the cypress symbolizes the connection between mortal realm and afterlife and is closely associated with death.
• - Cypresses were planted by graves and mausoleums to warn outsiders against entering the place occupied by spirits of the dead and their branches were placed on the bodies of the deceased before putting them to rest.
•  - In Greek and Roman mythology, the tree was sacred to the rulers of the underworld and the gods of fate.  Muslim culture also views the cypress as a symbol of hope since its branches point upwards, to the skies.

Philosophy in oils

A piece of landscape art you are looking at shows a plantation of cypresses painted against undulating hills. The scenery is performed in soft, warm colors of green, gold and ochre. The cypresses are depicted amidst an empty valley. There is nothing on the canvas except the trees and their shadows. The earth, the grass and the sky seem to continue each other; everything is drowned in the heavy glow of the setting sun that coats the world in a pensive, a bit poignant haze and blurs the boundaries between different planes of the landscape. This smoldering vacuum, dramatic shadows cast by the trees and the broody, meditative mood of the sunset panorama perfectly correlate with otherworldly associations attributed to the cypress tree. If you are a philosopher at heart and enjoy quiet moments of loneliness in the last light of the day, this beautiful oil canvas will make a great decoration for your secluded spot!