Jacques le Moyne de Morgues (French, ca. 1533-1588). Wild Cherry.

JACQUES LE MOYNE DE MORGUES (FRENCH, CA. 1533-1588) f.68: Wild Cherry. Watercolor and gouache on paper prepared as vellum ca. 1565 Paper size: 7 1/2 x 5 5/8 in Frame size: 16 1/4 x 14 1/4 in Provenance: DuMarry (from the inscription on the frontispiece) The cherry tree was brought to Italy by Lucullus in 74 B.C. from the town of Cerasus in Pontus, and hence it got its Latin name of cerasus. In Christian symbolism, the cherry symbolized Spring because it is the first tree that bears fruit after winter. Because of this symbolism, the cherry became the fruit of the Annunciation and Incarnation of Christ. Given the sweetness of its fruit, the cherry also stood for the sweetness to be derived from good works. The extraordinary career and oeuvre of the Huguenot artist Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues have only relative- ly recently been defined and described (see Paul Hulton, The Work of Jacques Le Moyne de Morgues, A Huguenot Artist in France, Florida, and England, 2 vols., London, 1977). The va