Charles Baudelaire - Blog Posts

"Les Fleurs du Mal" illustrated for art trade with @zzigzadig

Another piece for your eyes to consume

Do not look for my heart any more, the beasts have eaten it.

Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil (via wnq-writers)

 An illustration I made for the Betty B contest next month ✨ The assignment was to illustrate a poem so I chose "Le Vampire" by Baudelaire.

"DEATH IS THE MOTHER OF BEAUTY"

- literary examples of death as tragic and beautiful in its terror

Ophelia, a beautiful, innocent girl created by Shakespeare, torn by emotions so much that in despair for her lost love, she throws herself into the arms of the river, drowning. This is clearly seen in Millais's painting. Despite her death, a young girl resists the influence of filthy water on the human body. Pale but healthy skin, rosy cheeks and pink lips desperately taking their last breath. A tragic moment captured in such a calm way. Ophelia remains forever beautiful and immortal in the eyes of the viewer.

"Perfume" by Patrick Süskind, a novel about a murderer who tries to capture the most beautiful smell. The smell of death in the form of perfume made from a young body. His victims are again little girls who die in a tragic, sometimes even parodic way, being brutally mercilessly harmed. But in the main character's eyes they still shine like stars in the sky, filling him with pure exhilaration. Especially that one woman who is his eternal inspiration.

Baudelaire creates something similar in the poem "the death of lovers". The couple on its deathbed is not concerned about the coming end. Their love seems to bloom even more, surrounded by fragrant flowers that fill their souls with peace and joy.

Finally, the story of Tristan and Isolde, another lovers, on whose grave a hawthorn grows. A symbol of their eternal love. From their dead bodies, corrupted by decay, something amazing in its beauty is created bearing witness to their everlasting connection.

It reminds me of the words of Edvard Munch: "From my rotting body, flowers shall grow and I am in them and that is eternity"

Writers, poets, whole literature itself create death in various ways. But showing it as a gateway to beauty is something particularly special. How death can it be glamorous, artistic and pleasing for our eyes. How to find it among tragedy, mourning, rotten skin and that disgusting smell of decay. And why show it this way at all?

"Because the world is so full of death and horror, I try again and again to console my heart and pick the flowers that grow in the midst of hell" - Hermann Hesse

VIII - La Muse vénale

Ô muse de mon cœur, amante des palais, Auras-tu, quand Janvier lâchera ses Borées, Durant les noirs ennuis des neigeuses soirées, Un tison pour chauffer tes deux pieds violets?

- In : Les Fleurs du mal, de Charles Baudelaire, France (1857).