It's traditional to use a dried mandrake root as a fetish that provides protection, fertility, and abundance for one's family. It's usually wrapped in white silk and kept in a little coffin--sometimes decorated with the image of a hanged man on the lid--and is stored on the fireplace mantle, the heart of the home. Once a year it is taken out of its coffin and fed a drop of red wine, clearly a substitute for blood. My painting depicts just such a ritual.

The original oil painting is 11 x 14" on panel and has been sold.