Cornucopia

{{short description|Mythological symbol of abundance, also called the horn of plenty}}

File:Detail. Cornucopia. Marble statue of deified empress Livia, holding a cornucopia, 42-52 CE. Acquired in 1842 CE in Theatre of Falerii, Italy. Altes Museum, Berlin, Germany.jpg as Fortuna, 42-52 AD, marble, Altes Museum, Berlin ]]

In classical antiquity, the cornucopia ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|k|ɔːr|n|(|j|)|ə|ˈ|k|oʊ|p|i|ə|,_|-|n|(|j|)|uː|-|audio=LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Cornucopia.wav}}; {{etymology|la|{{wikt-lang|la|cornu}}|horn||{{wikt-lang|la|copia}}|abundance}}), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers, or nuts. In Greek, it was called the "horn of Amalthea" ({{langx|grc|κέρας Ἀμαλθείας|kéras Amaltheías}}),Pearson, [https://books.google.com/books?id=R1qaCxoc90UC&pg=PA60 p. 60]. after Amalthea, a nurse of Zeus, who is often part of stories of the horn's origin.

Baskets or panniers of this form were traditionally used in western Asia and Europe to hold and carry newly harvested food products. The horn-shaped basket would be worn on the back or slung around the torso, leaving the harvester's hands free for picking.

In Greek/Roman mythology

File:Berenice cornucopia gold Collection of J. Demetriou.jpg; the Greek inscription reads ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΗΣ ΒΕΡΕΝΙΚΗΣ, "of Queen Berenice".]]

Mythology offers multiple explanations of the origin of the cornucopia. One of the best-known involves the birth and nurturance of the infant Zeus, who had to be hidden from his devouring father Cronus. In a cave on Mount Ida on the island of Crete, baby Zeus was cared for and protected by a number of divine attendants, including the goat Amalthea ("Nourishing Goddess"), who fed him with her milk. The suckling future king of the gods had unusual abilities and strength, and in playing with his nursemaid accidentally broke off one of her horns, which then had the divine power to provide unending nourishment, as the foster mother had to the god.David Leeming, The Oxford Companion to World Mythology (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 13; Robert Parker, [https://books.google.com/books?id=F_ATDAAAQBAJ&q=cornucopia Polytheism and Society at Athens] (Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 422.

In another myth, the cornucopia was created when Heracles (Roman Hercules) wrestled with the river god Achelous and ripped off one of his horns; river gods were sometimes depicted as horned.Ovid, Metamorphoses 9.87–88, as cited by J. Rufus Fears, "The Cult of Virtues and Roman Imperial Ideology," Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.17.2 (1981), p. 821. This version is represented in the Achelous and Hercules mural painting by the American Regionalist artist Thomas Hart Benton.

The cornucopia became the attribute of several Greek and Roman deities, particularly those associated with the harvest, prosperity, or spiritual abundance, such as personifications of Earth (Gaia or Terra); the child Plutus, god of riches and son of the grain goddess Demeter; the nymph Maia; and Fortuna, the goddess of luck, who had the power to grant prosperity. In Roman Imperial cult, abstract Roman deities who fostered peace (pax Romana) and prosperity were also depicted with a cornucopia, including Abundantia, "Abundance" personified, and Annona, goddess of the grain supply to the city of Rome. Hades, the classical ruler of the underworld in the mystery religions, was a giver of agricultural, mineral and spiritual wealth, and in art often holds a cornucopia.{{cite book |first=Kevin |last=Clinton |title=Myth and Cult: The Iconography of the Eleusinian Mysteries |location=Stockholm |date=1992 |pages=105–107}}{{-}}

Modern depictions

File:Cornucopia of Orchids at Kew.jpgs at Kew Gardens, 2025]]

In modern depictions, the cornucopia is typically a hollow, horn-shaped wicker basket filled with various kinds of festive fruit and vegetables. In most of North America, the cornucopia has come to be associated with Thanksgiving and the harvest. Cornucopia is also the name of the annual November Food and Wine celebration in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Two cornucopias are seen in the flag and state seal of Idaho. The Great Seal of North Carolina depicts Liberty standing and Plenty holding a cornucopia. The coats of arms of Colombia, Panama, Peru, Venezuela, Victoria, Australia and Kharkiv, Ukraine, also feature the cornucopia, symbolizing prosperity.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Cornucopia motifs appear in some modern literature, such as Terry Pratchett's Wintersmith and Suzanne Collins's The Hunger Games.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

The horn of plenty is used for body art and at Thanksgiving, as it is a symbol of fertility, fortune and abundance.{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Gallery

File:NAMA 16346 Cornucopia.JPG|Greek vase of Plouton with a cornucopia and Demeter with a sceptre and plough, by the Orestes Painter, 440-430 BC, ceramic, National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece

File:Fortuna Statue.jpg|Roman statue of Fortuna, copy after a Greek original from the 4th century BC, marble, Vatican Museums, Rome

File:Gold oktadrachm of Ptolemy IV Philopator MET DP139890.jpg|Ancient Greek octodrachm of Ptolemy IV Philopator with a cornucopia, 221–204 BC, gold, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

File:Peter Paul Rubens - Abundance (Abundantia) - Google Art Project.jpg|Allegorical depiction of the Roman goddess Abundantia with a cornucopia, by Rubens (c. 1630).

File:Commodo vestito da Ercole ai Musei Capitolini.jpg|Roman cornucopia of Commodus as Hercules, {{circa}}192, marble, Capitoline Museums, Rome{{cite book|last1=Virginia|first1=L. Campbell|title=Ancient Rome - Pocket Museum|date=2017|publisher=Thames & Hudson|isbn=978-0-500-51959-2|page=196|url=|language=en}}

File:Andrea Mantegna 007.jpg|Renaissance column capital in The Circumsicion of Jesus, by Andrea Mantegna, {{circa}}1461, tempera on wood, Uffizi, Florence, Italy

File:Ceres Goujon Cour Carrée Louvre.jpg|Renaissance relief of Ceres, on the east facade of the Lescot Wing in the Cour Carrée, Louvre Palace, by Jean Goujon, 1553

File:Dijon (21) Maison des Cariatides - 15.jpg|Renaissance cornucopia on the Maison des Cariatides, Dijon, France, unknown architect or sculptor, {{circa}}1550-1600{{cite web |url=https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA00112406 |website=pop.culture.gouv.fr |title=Maison dite des Cariatides ou Maison Pouffier |language=fr |trans-title=House known as the Caryatids or Maison Pouffier |author= |access-date=18 September 2023}}

File:Jan davids de heem-fleurs avec portrait guillaume III d'Orange.jpg|Portrait of William III of Orange, aged 10, portrait by Jan Vermeer van Utrecht and decor by Jan Davidsz. de Heem, {{circa}}1659-1666, oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts of Lyon, France

File:Le Verseau dans la galerie d'Apollon.jpg|Baroque cornucopia in the ceiling of the Galerie d'Apollon, Louvre Palace, Paris, by Louis Le Vau and Charles Le Brun, after 1661{{cite book |last1=Sharman |first1=Ruth |title=Yves Saint Laurent & Art |date=2022 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-02544-4 |page=147 |url= |language=en}}

File:2017 Escultura. Palacio de Versalles P41.jpg|Baroque pair of cornucopias on the garden façade of the Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France, by Jules Hardouin-Mansart, 1678–1688{{cite book |last1=Martin |first1=Henry |title=Le Style Louis XIV |date=1927 |publisher=Flammarion |isbn= |page=21 |url= |language=fr}}

File:A sculpture at the palace of Versailles.jpg|L’Abondance, by Antoine Coysevox, 1682, unknown stone, Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France

File:The Four Continents (America), Johann Joachim Kaendler and assistants, Meissen Porcelain Factory, c. 1760, hard-paste porcelain - Wadsworth Atheneum - Hartford, CT - DSC05373.jpg|Rococo personification of the Americas with an alligator, a parrot, and a cornucopia, all symbols of the New World, designed by Johann Joachim Kändler and produced by the Meissen Porcelain Factory, {{circa}}1760, porcelain, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut, US

File:Manifattura di chelsea, i quattro elementi, terra, 1760-69 ca.jpg|Rococo personification of earth (classical element), by the Chelsea Porcelain Factory, {{circa}}1760-1770, porcelain, Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, US

File:Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun. La paix ramenant l'abondance.jpg|Peace bringing back Prosperity, by Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, 1780, oil on canvas, Louvre

File:Nancy opéra national de Lorraine armoiries de Nancy.jpg|Rococo pair of cornucopias in the Opéra national de Lorraine, Nancy, France, designed by Jean-François de La Borde, 1753{{cite web |url=https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA00106280 |website=pop.culture.gouv.fr |title=Opéra - théâtre |language=fr |author= |access-date=18 September 2023}}

File:Ewer and basin MET DP362786.jpg|Louis XVI style cornucopia on an ewer, by François Antoine Pfeiffer, Gilbert Drouet and the Sèvres Porcelain Factory, 1795, hard-paste porcelain, Metropolitan Museum of Art

File:L'Hyménée, PPO2024(10).jpg|Neoclassical cornucopias on the pedestal of a clock, by Antoine André Ravrio, early 19th century, marble and gilt bronze, Petit Palais

File:Manufacture de Sèvres, Table dite des palais impériaux 04.jpg|Neoclassical cornucopias on a table, by the Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory, 1811-1814, modified in 1814-1817, hard-paste porcelain and gilded bronze, in a temporary exhibition called Art and Court Life in the Imperial Palace at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Canada

File:Pair of Spindle Vases - OA 11090 - Louvre (05).jpg|Neoclassical cornucopia on a vase, by the Sèvres Porcelain Factory, 1814, hard-paste porcelain with platinum background and gilt bronze mounts, Louvre{{cite web |url=https://www.amisdulouvre.fr/acquisitions/paire-vases-fuseau |title=Paire de Vases « Fuseau » |language=fr |website=amisdulouvre.fr |access-date=10 May 2023}}

File:Paris - Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris - Tapis monumental du chœur - Détail -6.JPG|Neoclassical cornucopias on the Choir Carpet of Notre-Dame de Paris, by the Gobelins Manufactory, 1825-1833{{cite web |url=https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/palissy/PM75000703|website=pop.culture.gouv.fr |title=tapis de choeur Louis-Philippe |language=fr |author= |access-date=18 September 2023}}

File:87 avenue Henri-Martin Paris (cropped cartouche).jpg|Two Beaux-Arts mascarons of Avenue Henri-Martin no. 87, Paris, designed by Albert Walwein, 1892

File:Hôtel de Ville de Tours 06.jpg|Beaux-Arts cornucopias on the city hall of Tours, France, by Victor Laloux, 1896-1904

File:2 Strada Termopile, Bucharest (02).jpg|Beaux-Arts conrnucopias of Strada Termopile no. 2, Bucharest, unknown architect, {{circa}}1900

File:Paris - Façade du Petit Palais - PA00088878 - 035.jpg|Beaux-Arts cornucopias on the Petit Palais, Paris, by Charles Giraud, 1900{{sfn|Jones|2014|p=294}}

File:Interior of the BCR Headquarters Building 31.jpg|Beaux-Arts stuccos with pairs of cornucopias in the Generala Building (Bulevardul Regina Elisabeta no. 5), Bucharest, Romania, by Oscar Maugsch, 1906-1908{{cite book |last1=Oltean |first1=Radu |title=Bucureștii Belle Époque |date=2016 |publisher=Art Historia |isbn=978-973-0-22923-3 |page=58 |url= |language=ro}}

File:44 Calea Călărașilor, Bucharest (12).jpg|Art Deco cornucopias on the pediment corners of the Mihai Zisman House (Calea Călărașilor no. 44), Bucharest, by architect Soru, 1920

File:77 avenue des Champs-Élysées, Paris 8e 5.jpg|Art Deco cornucopias of Avenue des Champs-Élysées no. 77, Paris, unknown architect, {{circa}}1930

File:Кривбасшахтопрохідка 03.JPG|Stalinist cornucopias on the administration building of the "Kryvbasshahtoprohidka" and "Pivdenruda" associations, Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, unknown architect, 1950s

File:RathausSaarlouisL1070887 (2).jpg|Modernist relief of Europe, forcing the wild bull on its knees and pouring out the cornucopia with the blessings of prosperity, in the Saarlouis Town Hall, Germany, by Nikolaus Simon, 1953-1955

File:Coat of arms of Colombia.svg|The Coat of arms of Colombia

File:Escudo nacional del Perú.svg|Coat of arms of Peru

Notes

References

{{cite book|editor-last1=Jones |editor-first1=Denna |title=Architecture The Whole Story |date=2014 |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=978-0-500-29148-1 |language=en}}