142 THE SHAKESPEARE GARDEN 



with a smile as enchanting if not so famous as 

 Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" holds an ex- 

 quisitely painted columbine in her left hand and 

 gazes at it with tender, loving emotion. 



The early Italian and Flemish painters include 

 the columbine with the rose, lily, pink, violet, straw- 

 berry, and clover in the gardens where the Madonna 

 sits with the Holy Child. The reason that the 

 columbine was chosen as a flower of religious sym- 

 bolism was because of the little doves formed by 

 the five petals. The columbine signified the "Seven 

 Gifts of the Holy Spirit," and the Flemish painters 

 in their zeal for accuracy corrected the number of 

 petals to seven to make the flower agree with the 

 teaching of the Church. 



Yet although the columbine has these religious 

 associations, we always think of it as an airy, 

 piquant flower, the gay and irresponsible dancer of 

 the rocks and dells, clad, as it were, in fantastic and 

 parti-colored dress. Graceful in form and charm- 

 ing in color, put together with extreme delicacy 

 on slender, flexible, fragile stems and adorned with 

 a leaf approaching that of the fern in delicacy and 

 lace-like beauty, the columbine is one of the most 

 delightful of flowers. Always associated with folly, 

 we love it none the less for that, for there are times 



