V. PAPAVER RIIOEAS. I 1 5 



character on which these thoughts are founded is 

 the fulness of seed in the poppy and pomegranate, 

 as an image of life ; then the forms of both 

 became adopted for beads or bosses in ornamental 

 art ; the pomegranate remains more distinctly a 

 Jewish and Christian type, from its use in the 

 border of Aaron's robe, down to the fruit in the 

 hand of Angelico's and Botticelli's Infant Christs ; 

 while the poppy is gradually confused by the 

 Byzantine Greeks with grapes ; and both of these 

 with palm fruit. The palm, in the shorthand of 

 their art, gradually becomes a symmetrical branched 

 ornament with two pendent bosses ; this is again 

 confused with the Greek iris, (Homer's blue iris, and 

 Pindar's water-flag,) — and the Florentines, in adopt- 

 ing Byzantine ornament, read it into their own 

 Fleur-de-lys ; but insert two poppy heads on each 

 side of the entire foil, in their finest heraldry. 



15. Meantime the definitely intended poppy, in 

 late Christian Greek art of the twelfth century, 

 modifies the form of the Acanthus leaf with its 

 own, until the northern twelfth century workman 

 takes the thistle-head for the poppy, and the thistle- 

 leaf for acanthus. The true poppy-head remains in 

 the south, but gets more and more confused with 

 grapes, till the Renaissance carvers are content with 

 any kind of boss full of seed, but insist on such boss 



