COUNTER COVER 04

THE TREE OF LIFE

The “Tree of Life” constitutes an archetype or exemplary pattern from which other objects, ideas or concepts are derived and which have become generalised in all cultures and mythologies of the world. The sacred tree of Mediterranean cultures, from Persia and Egypt, was brought to the Iberian Peninsula by Arab and Jewish peoples.

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it is the tree of knowledge, which connects heaven with the underworld through the Earth, and where all forms of creation are manifested through the circular flow of the energy of life, represented by its many branches.

It is one of the most commonly used iconographic elements in Serrano embroidery, which has multiple manifestations and forms that also incorporate animals such as trouts or characteristic birds.