Pompeii No.29: The Sacred Offering

PhotoShop illustration, Mark D. Ruffner

I decided to place peonies in the tripod basket that I revealed last week. In the symbolism of flowers, the peony has many meanings, and one is success. I'm using a symbol that can encompass many aspects of good luck!

I'm taking some liberties here because the Pompeians probably never knew the peony; it was actually introduced to Europe from Asia at a much later date. (The artwork that I've used as a header comes from a 1663 engraving by Wencelas Hollar.)

Using real peonies for reference posed a problem for me because peonies don't grow in the Florida climate. Nonetheless, I had a dozen peony buds shipped to me at quite an expense. Because the buds were opening at different rates, I was concerned that I wouldn't get an optimum arrangement, and that the investment might become a waste.

So I hit upon the idea of setting up a table with a white background, and setting up a photographer's light on a tripod. The jug that you see above, the light, and the camera setting would not be changed a fraction until the end of the project.

Then I took each individual flower and set it in the jug, photographing it from multiple angles. The next day, as each flower opened a little more, I'd start the process all over again. Above you see two flowers that have been photographed in that manner. By the end of the week, I had a digital library of hundreds of flowers — all with the same light source — that could be digitally put together in endless flower arrangements.

Here you see the mural arrangement I came up with as it appears in PhotoShop. It has 18 layers, including the white background. Each flower is on a seperate layer so that it can be adjusted just as it would if one were arranging actual flowers.

click to enlarge

click to enlarge

If you've been following along with this Pompeian home project, you may have noticed that I enjoy symbolism, and that I've now imbued the mural with many signs of good luck. Below are a few:

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In this final photograph, you can see that I painted the peonies in shades of lavender to complement the bases upon which the muses stand.

I will be adding elements between the muses and the garlands, but in order to do that in a logical way, I'll need to first direct your attention to another wall. I hope you'll join me in the next posting as I shift gears and work on what I call the transom!
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