Looking at the Masters: Lily-of-the-Valley and Deer

If your birth month is May, your flower is the Lily-of-the-Valley. It has been a symbol of purity, love, happiness, motherhood, and luck since ancient times in Greece. In mythology, Apollo created flowers to provide a soft carpet for nymphs as they traveled through the forests of Mt. Olympus. The low-growing flower was sweet smelling, and it was the favorite scent of many royals, including Queen Elizabeth II. Lily-of-the-valley is used today in perfumes created by Estee Lauder and Christian Dior. 

Albrecht Durer Lucas (1828-1919) painted “Lily-of-the-Valley” (1886) (8”x6”). A British still-life painter, he was the son of a sculptor, but we know little about his education and life. He is known for his detailed still-life paintings of flowers. Although a small plant, the Lily-of-the-Valley commands more than half the painting. The plant’s smooth green leaves, with characteristic pointed ends, can grow up to nine inches long and four inches wide. The white bell-shaped flowers grow from one side of a single arching stem that bends gracefully to one side. Lucas placed the lily-of-the valley in a woodland valley, the natural habitat, with ferns that have not yet turned green. Since the lily-of-the valley appears early in the spring, it is associated with happiness and new beginnings. 

Lucas’s small, detailed paintings were shown at the Royal Institute of London, dedicated to scientific education and research. He also exhibited with the Royal Society of British Artists, established in 1823 by artists as an alternative to the Royal Academy.

“Lily-of -the-Valley” (1899) (10”x8”) is by British illustrator Walter Crane (1845-1915) is the subject of Flora’s Feast: A Masque of Flowers, a poem he wrote and illustrated. The poem begins: “The sullen winter nearly spent, Queen Flora to her garden went/to call the flowers from their long sleep/the year’s glad festivals to keep.” Crane illustrated his poem with over thirty flowers. Flora encounters “The little Lilies of the Vale, White ladies delicate and pale.” 

 A Celtic myth tells of the lily-of-the-valley that fell in love with the song of a nightingale. When the nightingale stopped singing, the flower wilted and died, but on the nightingales return in May, the flower bloomed again with joy. References to the lily-of-the-valley and the month of May can be found in the Song of Solomon 2:1-2: “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley. Like a lily among thorns is my darling among the maidens.” 

France celebrates La Fete du Muguet (lily-of-the-valley) on the first day of May. King Charles IX began the tradition in 1560 when he was given a sprig of lily-of-the-valley as a lucky charm.  He was inspired to give one to each if the ladies of his court every year on May 1. 

 

Marc Chagall (1887-1985) painted “Lilies-of-the-Valley” (1916) (42”x34”) (oil). He was born in Russia and studied art in St. Petersburg. He was able to go to Paris in 1910 to study art, and he stayed there until 1914. Chagall was a romantic, and very much in love with his wife Bella. Bouquets of flowers were prevalent in his work.  He painted “Lilies-of-the-Valley” while he and his wife were in Russia during World War 1. This exuberant display takes up the entire painting.  The flowers appear to be a gift. They are wrapped in a bright green container, tied with a pink ribbon with two large pink flowers. This painting brightens the home, and brings joy in the absence of real flowers.

 

If your birthday falls between May 21 and June 20, your Native American totem animal is the deer, representing fertility, sensitivity, intuition, and gentleness. Deer have held a specific place in human evolution since the beginning of time. The images in “Three Deer” (15,000 BCE) were found in the Paleolithic caves in Lascaux, France. The deer are well-drawn and each has a large rack of antlers. The deer, lowest in the group and drawn with both black and tan coloring, is a pregnant female. The number of pregnant females in the cave shows how important fertility was at the time. In the cultures of the Middle East, male deer are also depicted on structures to represent protectiveness. Christianity recognizes the deer as a spiritual messenger: “He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.” (Psalms 18:33)

“Deer in Repose” (1867) (40”x32’’) (oil) was painted by Rosa Bonheur (1822-1899). Internationally known for her animal paintings. Bonheur depicts a family of deer resting peacefully in a forest, sunlight falling on them through the leaves. The stag, doe, and two fawns are the image of fertility and gentleness.

 

Deer are a major part of Native American mythology.  The Creek, Cherokee, Chippewa, Chickasaw, Huron, Iroquois, Osage, Shawnee, Navaho, Omaha, Seminole, Choctaw, Pawnee, Ojibwe, and Lakota believe in the myth of Deer Woman. She is one of the “little people,” like the elves and fairies. Deer Woman helps to keep human society under control by punishing those who harm others, particularly those who harm women and children. The deer’s antlers that reach skyward are considered sacred. When the antlers fall off, they grow again, a symbol of regeneration. Many tribes have Deer Clans within the tribe and Deer Dances are common. 

“Deer Dance Kachina” (1973) (6”x5”x6”) is a doll made by the Hopi of Arizona. When young Hopi children reach the age of six, they enter the kachina religious tradition. Kachina dolls are made in the image of the many Kachina Spirits. The “Deer Dance Kachina” teaches the children the necessity of respecting the deer spirit to increase the deer population as a continuing source of food. The doll is carved from natural materials, and it is in a dancing pose. The antlers protruding from the head, and the black nose and mouth are prominent features. The dancer holds a stick in each hand to represent the front legs of the deer. Feathers are placed around the dancer’s head, and a bright green juniper collar circles his neck. Bells circle his legs, adding sound to the dance. Hopi children learn the stories of the various kachinas and are taught to revere the kachina spirits. 

Note: Lily-of-the-valley is poisonous to humans if eaten. However, fairies are said to drink from the flower’s cup.