Pomegranate

A pomegranate is a thing of wonder. It’s botanical name, Punica granatum, is misleading. It implies that the fruit originates from the Carthage, when the fruit comes from Iran. Perhaps its place of origin, the cradle for so many civilisations, explains its enduring presence in ancient myth, legend and religion. This is the fruit that condemned Persephone to the underworld held by Maximilian the first in a portrait by Durer as a symbol of imperial power, described in the Quran as a fruit of paradise. This painting is a revisionist version of the garden of Eden, in which a male Eve, offers a pomegranate to the viewer.