The flax in the Flora's image in the Ariadne House (Pompeian area, Italy) as a symbol of feminine in a wedding sacred to the afterlife

In ancient time, life elements, like plants and animals, and unanimated forces of nature were usually associated with specific meanings related to deities and sacred rituals. In Roman archeology, the strong symbolic value of plants represented in wall paintings and artifacts was proved by several contributions, but this topic is often neglected. In this paper, for the first time, an interpretation is proposed for the plant represented in one of the most iconic paintings in Pompeii, the so-called Flora in Ariadne's house. Here, the analyzed plant is picked by a girl turned away and holding a floral cornucopia, and it plays a relevant role in the scene. Through the analysis of its morphological elements, and comparing them with other ancient representations, we suggest its identification as flax (Linum usitatissimum L.). Flax was an economically and culturally very important plant, widely represented in objects and paintings in the Mesopotamian and Egyptian area. We also suggest that the meaning behind the choice of depict flax was also related to its classical attribution as a symbol of fertility and afterlife as well as linked to the feminine sphere. This interpretation, together with other elements of the images, strengthens the already proposed interpretation of the yellow-dressed girl a wife, which is let to go this life for an afterlife, in the figure of Persephone.

Automated summary

This paper proposes an interpretation for the plant represented in the iconic painting in Pompeii called "Flora in Ariadne's house", suggesting it is flax. Flax was economically and culturally important and symbolized fertility and the afterlife, associated with the feminine sphere. This interpretation strengthens the proposed identification of the girl in yellow as Persephone, a wife transitioning to the afterlife.