If every flower carries a secret code (red roses stand for love, mums mean death) then carnations can probably be said to signify…cheap. Regarded as only suitable for sale in bodegas and grocery stores and primarily worn by pimply adolescents on middle-school dates, the carnation is a flower that is almost universally scorned. But dig a bit deeper and you'll find a group of supremely fashionable—and influential—dianthus caryophyllus fans who are helping to restore the flower's once-regal status.
Carnations can actually lay claim to a rather illustrious past. They were first mentioned in Greek literature some 2,000 years ago and the reviews were good. In fact, the name dianthus, coined by Greek botanist Theophrastus, is derived from the Greek words dios (divine) and anthos (flower).
F. Martin Ramin for The Wall Street Journal (carnation & arrangement, fabric, pillow, perfume); Bridgeman Art Library (portrait, Dutch still life, plate); Trunk Archive/ François Halard (Irving interior); Getty Images (Churchill); Courtesy Sotheby's (chair)
Carnations showed up regularly in works of art and literature in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries; the frilly boutonniere-favorite was considered important enough to warrant a mention by Shakespeare ("Love's Labour's Lost") and a depiction by da Vinci ("Madonna With the Carnation," 1475, currently hanging in a German museum). And according to John Hand, curator of northern Renaissance painting at the National Gallery, carnations were often used in the 15th and 16th centuries. "The woman holds a carnation—most often red—as a symbol of engagement," he said, citing the painting of Margaretha Boghe, painted by Joos van Cleve in the 16th century.
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