Iris

Messenger of the Greek gods, Iris descended from Olympus tracing a rainbow with the tip of her foot: she gave her name to the flower that carries all the colours of the spectrum. In France she became the royal emblem — the fleur-de-lys is, by some readings, a stylised iris. Chrystiane Charles has drawn the bloom in its full opening: three petals raised in an open cup, three petals fallen, spread at the ground in a supple fan. Within, the flower glows with a golden, almost living light.