The dark secret of the painting "Flaming June", 1895

What is encrypted in one of the most memorable English paintings of the XIX century?
Do you want me to tell you a secret?

Flaming June
This painting is the most famous work of the artist of the Victorian era, Frederic Leighton. The painting depicts the era of antiquity, which the artist dearly loved. And the pose in which the main character is located is a tribute and inspiration to numerous Greek sculptures of sleeping nymphs.
However, the artist himself said that such a posture turned out for him because the model turned out to be a very flexible girl.
Here, by the way, the sketch itself of the future work of the artist:

Flaming June
At first glance, the picture is not terrible. On the contrary - the picture looks cute and beautiful. The girl sleeps peacefully, beauty and sun around her.
However, it is not. Look carefully at the bouquet of flowers on the right.
What do you see?

This is a branch of oleander, which is poisonous. And the dream of this girl is a bright symbol of death.

oleander

So a beautiful girl in a bright dress, sleeping soundly, a sultry noon is a reminder of how short and fragile our life is. The same goes for the beauty of this girl. All this can break at any time.

By the way, about the oleander in painting.

Oleander is a symbol of beauty and death. It is often used in painting to create secret meaning. Very often, artists paint this plant together with young girls - this is the brightest symbol of the fragility of our world and the symbol of a certain naivety. Because an inexperienced young girl may not know that this beautiful plant is poisonous - and “taste the fruit” (meaning “the fruit of sin”), feeling the charm only of outward beauty, which then leads to tragedy.

And this flower has become a symbol of the city of Hiroshima, because this plant first flourished in the ashes after a nuclear disaster.