Year 2004
Oil on board
70 x 50 cm

The cultivation of pomegranates is at least 5000 years old. It was already planted in the gardens of Babylon and appears in the Egyptian bas-reliefs. Its fruit is a symbol of love, fertility, and prosperity. In Rome brides wore a headdress made of pomegranate branches, an attribute of Hera, Aphrodite, and Demeter.

Christian iconography will make it a symbol of fruitful martyrdom, full of seeds of life, hope and faith.

The capital of the Nazari Kingdom, founded in the 10th century, was named Granada because of this fruit, which forms part of the city’s coat of arms, as well as the coat of arms of Spain since 1492.

©María José Aguilar