This tree is a symbol of peace, wisdom, fertility, prosperity, health, happiness, stability and tranquility. It also symbolizes the eternal connection between man and the land. The aim of this holiday is therefore to protect olive trees and promote the values ​​they symbolize. No other tree in history has been praised, painted and sung so much. It has accompanied Mediterranean peoples in times of prosperity and hardship and has left its unique mark on their cultural tradition, for example as part of sacred ceremonies, but also in everyday life. It loves the Mediterranean sun, grows even on arid and rocky soils and survives even in drought and strong winds.

The olive tree was cultivated 8,000 years ago in the Middle East for the large amount of oil in the pulp of its fruit. The Phoenicians then spread its cultivation throughout the Mediterranean coast in Africa and southern Europe. Archaeological findings prove that olive oil was not only used in cooking. It was also used for cosmetic purposes, for massages, but also for religious purposes and even served as currency.

Already in the ancient world, the olive tree was a symbol of peace, prosperity and fertility. In the time of Homer, it acquired a very important role in the everyday life of the Greeks. Homer called olive oil “liquid gold” and Hippocrates “the great healer” because he used it in many of his medical procedures. According to Greek mythology, the olive tree was a symbol of the goddess Athena, who fought on the Acropolis in a duel with the sea god Poseidon for the patronage of the city. According to legend, the goddess gave the city the first olive tree in the world and won the duel. In classical Athens, it was therefore considered a sacred gift from heaven and was duly protected by the state. An olive wreath attached to the door meant that a son went into the world, and in war, the defeated begged for peace with an olive branch. Olive and laurel branches were woven into wreaths, which were used to honor deserving and honorable citizens. The winners of the Olympic Games were originally crowned with a wreath woven from wild olive branches. In ancient Rome, too, the olive tree, traditionally a gift from the Roman goddess Minerva (the Greek equivalent of Athena), became a symbol of peace. The Romans were also responsible for the first tools for pressing olives and the gradual improvement of methods for preserving oil.

In the Christian world, the olive branch is also a symbol of peace. The most famous mention of the olive tree is in the biblical story of Noah, to whom a dove brought an olive branch after the flood. Jews perceive the fruit of the olive tree as part of the wealth of their country, serving as proof and expression of prosperity, and further, for example, in the Koran, the olive tree is mentioned as a sacred tree.

Today, olive trees are also grown in many other countries with temperate climates, including the American continent. The first trees were brought to Peru by the Spaniards in the mid-16th century, later they spread to Mexico and California, and attempts are being made to produce them in China and Australia. Their use is not limited to the fruit, olive wood is also highly valued not only for its unmistakable pattern, but also because of its hardness.

Olive trees are renowned for their longevity and are rightly called the "eternal tree", as some species found in Palestine, for example, may have been growing there since the rise of Christianity. The oldest, largest and best-preserved olive tree that is still bearing fruit is probably the well-known specimen found in the village of Ano Vouves on Crete, Greece. However, its age cannot be precisely determined (it is said to be 3000–5000 years old) because it has a rotten hollow trunk, which is characteristic of old olive trees.

From our gallery collections, we have selected a painting by the painter and teacher Otakar Nejedlý (March 14, 1883, Roudnice nad Labem – June 17, 1957, Prague) to celebrate World Olive Tree Day. He graduated from Fr. Engelmüller's private landscape school in 1898–1901, and from 1904 he studied privately with Antonín Slavíček in Kameničky. He undertook several study trips around Europe and from 1907–1910 he also stayed in India and Ceylon. This trip significantly influenced all of his later work, in which the cult of color and a tendency to monumentalize landscapes prevailed. From 1925–1957 he was a professor at the special landscape school at the Prague Academy. From 1904 he was a member of the SVU Mánes and from 1926 also a corresponding member of the Vienna Hagenbund. Nejedlý's painting "Olive Garden" in the gallery collections is not dated, but it is likely that this oil on canvas was created during his stays in southern Italy and Corsica in 1927–1930, when he came here with the students of his landscape school for winter plein-air stays.

Jana Bojanovská, November 26, 2024