Deadly nightshade
"La Belladone" café, Brussels, July 2014.
Deadly nightshade
Renaissance women used belladona to render their beauty more enticing. Applied on the eyes, the hermaphroditic flower dilated their pupils, offering a dark, deep gaze. Dilated pupils were, at the time, a sure sign of sexual excitement and of “desiring admiration” – the expression I’ve been looking for. Belladonna is also a sedative, a painkiller, and a deadly poison. Difficult choice.