Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2021 September 8

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September 8

Kassia image

I'm afraid this may be a very difficult query, but does anyone know or is able to figure out any information on this image? (e.g. where it came from, who its by, etc.) Please ping me if so – Best Aza24 (talk) 07:17, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

The user who last uploaded it, Avalantis, last edited this past February, but it might be possible to send an email or post on their talk page, and see if they know anything. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 07:35, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

A reverse image search brings up results from websites all over the net, but none give a source. The image on alarmy.com says "in the public domain". Alansplodge (talk) 10:33, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

@Aza24: – The painting is signed: Διά χειρός Αγγελικής Τσέλιου — έτος 2012 (By the hand of Angeliki Tseliou – year 2012). Here is the painting on the artist's blog, with a caption identifying it as egg tempera on wood.  --Lambiam 14:18, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

WP:MCQ may be a good place to get more help with this... --Jayron32 15:18, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

Thanks all! Hmm it is a bit concerning that the lead image for a Byzantine composer was made only a few years ago! I will likely need to replace it with something else. Best to all – Aza24 (talk) 22:24, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

The present image replaced a minuscule image of an icon in a more Byzantine style produced by the Parnitha Monastery. Some other icons of Kassia are also in a Byzantine style, but all appear to be recent.  --Lambiam 11:10, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

How did cucumbers come to be associated with the Christian concepts of resurrection and redemption?

In the article The Annunciation, with Saint Emidius, I read that "[t]he apple in the foreground represents the forbidden fruit and associated fall of man. The cucumber symbolizes the promise of resurrection and redemption." And while that may be interesting to know when thinking about LarryBoy and the Bad Apple, the cucumber fact begs the question above. – MrPersonHumanGuy (talk) 19:45, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

Cucumbers being blessed at a Buddhist temple in Hawaii

This entry on an art history blog suggests that the artist in question used this cucumber-Christ symbolism a lot. Possibly nobody else ever did. Meanwhile, this list of signs and symbols representing God and the saints, under Gourd, mentions the same artist, and claims (somewhat desperately, I think) that the cucumbers are actually gourds, used for carrying water and hence reviving life, thus resurrection.  Card Zero  (talk) 20:47, 8 September 2021 (UTC)

Asides from carrying water to revive life, the only other way I could substantially contrast cucumbers with Christ is that, while Christ is popularly believed to have offered himself so that his disciples (who he told to symbolically eat his flesh and blood) would be spared from eternal torment, cucumbers with peoples' names written on them are offered by wary people in Japan to kappas (who have to carry water in their heads, otherwise they are severely weakened) so they would be spared from being drowned for their literal flesh and blood. – MrPersonHumanGuy (talk) 00:11, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

There seems to be a fine line between "cukes" and "kooks". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 00:33, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

The item depicted in the painting resembles a large pickled gherkin, referred to where I come from as a "wally." This seems consistent with your analysis – see Wally (anonymous). {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.193.129.71 (talk) 01:57, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

Maybe the rare triple-toe wally? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 02:46, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

I don't know if the artist would have been aware of this but there is a similar symbolism in the Hindu Mahāmrityunjaya Mantra:

"We sacrifice to Tryambaka the fragrant, increaser of prosperity.

Like a cucumber from its stem, might I be freed from death, not from deathlessness."

This symbolises freedom from the birth - death - birth reincarnation cycle. -- Q Chris (talk) 09:32, 9 September 2021 (UTC)

An explanation different from those linked above—connecting the cucumber with the vine that grew over Jonah's head, which is, I must admit, the first religious thing that a cucumber suggested to me—is offered in a book about Crivelli here (paragraph beginning at the middle of column 1). How persuasive you find it is up to you. Deor (talk) 16:46, 9 September 2021 (UTC)