A tiny perfect fig in dappled Winter light viewed through a foraged collection of thorny branches and bright red berries.

Abundant in the gardens of the Alcazar on my visit to Seville earlier this year - One of the oldest fruit trees, the fig was cultivated in the Middle East: an Egyptian painting over 4500 features the fruits. During the Andalusian era, they grew abundantly in the scholar Ibn al-'Awwam's experimentation garden around 1200 AD.

The symbolism of the fig runs deep through history: Adam and Eve covered themselves in fig leaves after eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge in Genesis. Romulus and Remus's basket miraculously stopped under a wild fig when they were abandoned on the Tiber.

Oil and gesso on board in antique and modern frame 12.5 w x 15 h cm unframed (24 w x 26.5 h cm framed)