Leafless flowers (1894). Ramon Casas, Barcelona 1866-1932.

At the end of the 19th century, there was a paramedical belief that a person infected with syphilis could be completely cured if he had relations with a virgin, an idea parallel to that which exists today in black Africa regarding AIDS. The spread of this theory resulted in a terrible increase in cases of rape of adolescents. Casas denounces this fact with this work, in which he shows us a naked young woman lying on the ground surrounded by roses with their petals torn off, a symbol of the aggression of which she has just been the victim and which give the painting its title. The zenithal point of view from which she is depicted reinforces the feeling of helplessness that she gives off, further increasing the drama. This point of view is known in painting precisely as masculine-oppressive.

Biologist & art lover. I think human beings are societies of cells (hubasoc). Time perception is the pace of operation of our cellular society. Visit /timecast 

Thank you. Your cast about art nouveau, has remembered me that I live in the paradise of art nouveau (Barcelona) 🤗