Édouard Manet considered the subject of the lemon on a black plate, seemingly simple, as an ideal challenge for any painter. The black of the glazed ceramic saucer is found in the yellow of the peel and vice versa, and the still life allows for the subtle expression of fragile reflections with a touch of elegance. Legendary astronaut, pioneer and member of the famous "Mercury Seven", Lieutenant Colonel Virgil "Gus" Grissom, fastened a lemon to a coat hanger, which he hung at the entrance of the CSM Apollo 204 simulator. A gesture of protest, indicating that, in his eyes, the lunar module would be a dangerous wreck.

"Gus" perished five days later during a test on the ground, in the tragic fire of the Vessel 012 (Apollo 1) when a short-circuit occurred accidentally inside the oxygen pressurized cabin, on January 27, 1967. Painted by a sick Manet, in 1880, the lemon is consumed, and metamorphoses into a herring head: a detail in another "still life with fish heads" executed by Jean Fautrier in 1927.

The figure of the red herring, of the glissade and the false trail, is invoked in homage to "Gus": the still life that has become a vanity, is a clue, the precursor of the singing herring.

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