Art Appreciation: Gérôme’s The Tulip Folly

The Tulip Folly
Jean-Leon Gérôme’s The Tulip Folly
This is my tulip. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
My tulip is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life.
My tulip, without me, is useless. Without my tulip, I am useless. I must tend my tulip true. I must grow it straighter than my enemy who is trying to grow his. I must sell my bulbs before he sells his. I will…
My tulip and I know that what counts in war is not the blossoms we bloom, the color of our petals, nor the smell we make. We know that it is the bulbs that count. We will bulb…
My tulip is human, even as I, because it is my life. Thus, I will learn it as a brother. I will learn its weaknesses, its strength, its parts, its accessories, its stamen and its pistil. I will keep my tulip watered and ready, even as I am clean and ready. We will become part of each other. We will…
Before God, I swear this creed. My tulip and I are the defenders of my country. We are the masters of our enemy. We are the saviors of my life.
So be it, until victory is Netherlands’ and there is no enemy, but peace!
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