Many are the ways that take you to Rome, and many are the paintings that lead to smoke.
Throughout history, starting from the pre- Colombian Maya civilization smoking was recorded, as something important in their rituals, culture and most importantly with sacred activity that godesses were related performed.
A section of the Madrid Códex
Approximately around 300-900 C.E., the first image of cigar smoking was recorden in a ceramic pot. It depicts a Mayan priest smoking rolled tocabbo leaves tied with string, this was considered and honored practice; even in the Madrid Codex, one of only three surviving pre-Columbian books from the Postclassic period (900-1521 C.E.) we see evidence of its incorporation into the cultural fabric of society.
The second big stage of art and tobacco starts in the 17th century in history is called Dutch Golden Age. This period of time showed social location of people, mostly men were painted, tobacco was asociated with social deviance and its use was divided between medicinal use and recreational, this last was associated with low class, and in paintings mostly related with sailors, soldiers and rural por people. Thus, smoking became a tool for artists to designate someone’s rank in society, and painters including Adriaen Brouwer, the Ostade brothers, and David Teniers II employed smoking in their portrayals of the low classes. Smoking also became a comedic prop for painters especially in festival and burlesque paintings.
Following the Golden Age tobacco usage in artwork lost prominence. The decline of smoking representations was due to the influence of Rococo, which made snuff the preferred choice. Though snuff usage increased, snuff portrayals never became as common as those of cigars, cigarettes, and pipes in European paintings.
Impressionism took place with every day life scenes including cigars, pipes and cigarretes. The post- impressionists returned symbolic meaning to smoking instruments. One notable painting was done by Vincent Van- Gogh Skull with a Burning Cigarette. Although this painting seems to be an anti-smoking warning, it was actually representative of the black humor and popular jokes during that time. Munch launched this trend with his painting Self-Portrait. It shows the artist with a cigarette against a dark background and an eerie look across his face. Munch used smoke to symbolize psychological problems.
Vincent Van- Gogh Skull with a Burning Cigarette
Munch Self-Portrait.
And art leads us to Dutch Masters is a brand of natural wrapped cigars sold in te United States since 1912. Many brands and products have specific creative distictions on their packages and details, but the Dutch Masters kill it with Rembrant´s oil on canvas of art called The Sampling Official or the Syndicts of the Drapers Guild. This was one of the late corporate portraits done by Rembrant in the year 1662. This piece of art stand for its large format, and basically all the men are turned to the painter, one of the figures is even rising from its chair, a sing of some else in the room.
This cigars are currently manufactured in USA and come in two main varieties, full size and smaller called by followers as “mini-dutches”. You can find this natural cigars at www.floridatobacco.com, smoke, share and enjoy.
