In Caravaggio’s Boy with a Basket of Fruit (c.1593), peaches evoke sensual possibility: The hot rose blush of the fruits’ skin is mirrored in the boy’s flushed cheeks. Peaches as a synonym for blossoming lust are also seen in Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait (c.1434), where the impending reality of the newlyweds’ bedchamber is suggested by peaches hidden in the corner of the painting. As in 15th-century art history, so in 21st-century popular imagery: From the sticky way peach juice This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-One Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 50 Close Knit Close Knit: Meet the weavers keeping traditional Egyptian tapestrymaking alive. Arts & Culture Issue 50 The Old Gays Inside a Californian TikTok “content house” of a very different stripe. Arts & Culture Issue 50 New Roots The Palestinian art and agriculture collective sowing seeds of community. Arts & Culture Issue 50 Angela Trimbur An all-out tour de force. Arts & Culture Issue 50 Peace & Quiet In the UK, a centuries-old Quaker meeting house encourages quiet reflection. Arts & Culture Issue 50 Free Wheelers On the road with London’s Velociposse Cycling Club.
Arts & Culture Issue 50 Close Knit Close Knit: Meet the weavers keeping traditional Egyptian tapestrymaking alive.
Arts & Culture Issue 50 The Old Gays Inside a Californian TikTok “content house” of a very different stripe.
Arts & Culture Issue 50 New Roots The Palestinian art and agriculture collective sowing seeds of community.
Arts & Culture Issue 50 Peace & Quiet In the UK, a centuries-old Quaker meeting house encourages quiet reflection.