Valentine’s Day makes us see life in red, a color that represents love and passion. However, this has not always been the case. Red is a contradictory color that has had many meanings throughout history.
In religion, she embodies the passion of Christ, the devil and sexuality. It is also the color that Julius Caesar discovered thanks to Cleopatra to make it the imperial color, symbol of power, just like Napoleon, eighteen centuries later.
In everyday life, red is used to identify brothels, as is still the case in Amsterdam.
In art, he is acclaimed by Stendhal in his novel The Red and the Blackthen by Jeanne Mas with her tube In red and black.
How to explain that a single color could have had so many meanings? Since when is red the color of love?
For the knowledge, Sidonie Bonnec receives Hayley Edwards-Dujardin, art and fashion historian. She publishes the book Red from Pompeii to Rothko Editions du Chêne.