20 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



among the early poets. They were plain tales 

 of love and war that Chaucer told in ' EngHsh 

 undefyled.' But the Church in England pro- 

 duced some beautiful mystical hymns, notably 

 the one to the Virgin, written, perhaps, about 

 1350, which begins: 



' Of a rose, a lovely rose, 

 Of a rose is al mya song.' 



• •••••• 



Religious pictures are of two types: the 

 historical, which aims at depicting a sacred 

 scene exactly as it did occur; and the devotional, 

 which presents a divine or holy figure in the 

 attitude and with the surroundings best calcu- 

 lated to inflame the devotion of the worshipper. 



To the first category belongs Rubens' 

 ' Descent from the Cross.' ' The dead Figure, 

 the sustained effort of the men who detach it 

 from the Cross, the grief-stricken women, are 

 all depicted with perfect realism and strict 

 attention to historical detail. It merely de- 

 picts the scene as it might have occurred, and 

 no attempt is made to guide or suggest the 

 emotions of the beholder. 



' Antwerp Cathedral. 



