| CHAP. | PAGE | |
| I. | Emblems and Symbols | [9] |
| II. | The Flower Symbolists | [23] |
| III. | The Lily | [41] |
| IV. | The Iris | [62] |
| V. | The Rose | [71] |
| VI. | The Carnation | [83] |
| VII. | Garlands of Roses | [88] |
| VIII. | The Columbine | [104] |
| IX. | The Olive | [112] |
| X. | Thorns | [126] |
| XI. | The Palm | [134] |
| XII. | The Acanthus | [146] |
| XIII. | The Fleur-de-Lys | [148] |
| XIV. | The Lily of the Annunciation | [162] |
| XV. | The Lily of the Angel Gabriel | [177] |
| XVI. | The Flowers of the Divinity | [191] |
| XVII. | The Flowers of the Virgin | [197] |
| XVIII. | The Lily of the Saints | [219] |
| XIX. | The Vine | [235] |
| XX. | The Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge | [240] |
| XXI. | The Gourd | [257] |
| XXII. | The Pomegranate | [261] |
| XXIII. | The Strawberry | [268] |
| XXIV. | Fruit in Garlands | [272] |
| Paradise. Giovanni di Paolo | [277] | |
| The Queen of Heaven. H. van Eyck | [279] | |
| The Adoration of the Shepherds. H. van der Goes | [281] | |
| La Purissima. Murillo | [283] | |
| The Girlhood of Mary, Virgin. D. G. Rossetti | [285] | |
| List of Authorities | [287] | |
| Index of Artists | [289] | |
| Index of Flowers | [291] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| PLATE | PAGE | |
| I. | The Virgin in a Strawberry-decorated Mantle (Lorenzo da San Severino) | |
| [Frontispiece] | ||
| II. | The Badge of the Order of the Lily of Navarre | [41] |
| III. | The Flowers of Heaven (Mosaic of the 13th Century) | [41] |
| IV. | The ‘Enclosed Garden’ of the Virgin (Stefano da Zevio) | [100] |
| V. | Gabriel, crowned with Olive, brings the Message of Reconciliation (Martin Schöngauer) | [123] |
| VI. | The Crown of Thorns (Zurburan) | [128] |
| VII. | The Acanthus of Paradise (Mosaic of the 13th Century) | [146] |
| VIII. | The Rose of Divine Love rising from a Precious Vessel (Pinturicchio) | [169] |
| IX. | The Royal Lily Springing from a Humble Vase (Pesello) | [169] |
| X. | The Columbine of the Seven Gifts (Jörg Breu) | [188] |
| XI. | Saint Barbara with the Royal Lily (The Master of Flémalle) | [188] |
| XII. | The Fruit of Damnation exchanged for the Fruit of Redemption (Hugo van der Goes) | [245] |
| XIII. | The Fruit of Heaven relinquished for the Apple of Eden (Memling) | [245] |
| XIV. | Adam and Eve delivered from Hell (Martin Schöngauer) | [248] |
| XV. | The Child with the Pomegranate surrounded by Angels with Lilies and Rose-garlands (Botticelli) | [262] |
| XVI. | Paradise (Giovanni di Paolo) | [278] |
| XVII. | The Queen of Heaven (Hubert van Eyck) | [280] |
| XVIII. | The Adoration of the Shepherds (Hugo van der Goes) | [282] |
| XIX. | The Immaculate Conception (Murillo) | [284] |
| XX. | The Girlhood of Mary, Virgin (Dante Gabriel Rossetti) | [286] |
THE FLORAL SYMBOLISM
OF THE GREAT MASTERS
I
EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS[1]
Since the earliest days of Christianity the Church has made use of emblems. The Early Church used them partly protectively to conceal their faith from the pagans, and partly because it lacked artists capable of worthily depicting the Godhead in human form. Even when the days of persecution had passed, the Church, restrained by reverential tradition, by poverty perhaps, and perhaps by the Eastern fear of the ‘graven image,’ continued to represent Christ as the True Vine and the Apostles as sheep or as doves.
But at the beginning of the fourth century the Emperor Constantine established Christianity as the religion of the state. New, and often magnificent, churches were built in each town and the Emperor placed in the hands of the ecclesiastics a large portion of the royal revenues.
In these grand new basilicas the simple decoration of the Catacombs and tiny ancient chapels was not sufficient. The ample walls offered a splendid field for the mosaicist and Byzantine taste demanded elaborate pictorial effects. Representations of the Redeemer appeared surrounded by the Apostles, the prophets and the four-and-twenty elders of Revelation. Saints and martyrs were introduced, and later we find imperial personages, Justinian surrounded by his guards and Theodora followed by the ladies of her court. It became necessary to distinguish the figures one from another and therefore symbolism was largely introduced. The Deity was placed within the mandorla, symbol of perfect blessedness. The prophets were awarded broken wheels to denote their imperfect revelation, and the apostles books, to signify their fuller knowledge. Haloes were carefully differentiated. Virgin saints carried palms or laurel crowns, and martyrs had the instruments of their martyrdom placed beside them. Some figures carried scrolls on which were inscribed texts which gave the clue to their identity, others simply had their names written above their heads, but both these latter devices were useless to the ignorant.
At the Renaissance, when art had a fuller life and wider aims, it was not sufficient to thus merely label the persons represented. The traditions of Byzantine art once broken, the painter was free to set upon the panel all the beauty that his mind could conceive and that his hand could execute. He had no longer to paint a Christ or a Madonna correct to a formula, but none the less he was bound to depict figures which should be instantly recognizable as God incarnate and the meek Mother of Christ. So from his freedom sprang the problem which has occupied the religious painter ever since, the painting of a soul’s quality, the making visible to the world of the beauty of holiness.
During the great century of art, achievement came. Raphael, Leonardo, Michael Angelo, Perugino required and used no symbol to express the majesty of Christ or the purity of the Virgin Mother. They had that power to make visible the intangible which, in art, is genius. But among the earlier artists of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, he who was unable to show by the announcing angel’s attitude and mien that his message was one of peace and goodwill, placed a branch of olive in his hand, and he who despaired of adequately depicting the immaculate purity of the Virgin, emphasized his point by setting a pot of spotless lilies by her side. So was the intention of the least-accomplished of artists made clear, even to the unlettered.