Vignette; Amaryllis
1908
Edvard Munch, the master behind *The Scream*, transforms a botanical study into a psychological puzzle. Instead of petals, this 'Amaryllis' blooms with a cluster of human faces—a serene profile, a ghostly visage, and a central, almost manic grin rising from a thorny, root-bound stem. It’s a brilliant slice of Symbolism, where a plant becomes a metaphor for the tangled roots of human emotion and identity. Created right around his 1908 nervous breakdown, it feels like Munch is sketching the many conflicting faces of his own psyche taking root.