30 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



perance; the elder, zeal; and the thyme, ac- 

 tivity. Of these, however, with the exception 

 of the violet. Christian art has taken little note. 



There are certain flowers which appear 

 repeatedly in pictures which represent the 

 garden of Heaven; they grow in the 'Enclosed 

 Garden ' of the Madonna, and surround the 

 Infant Christ when He is laid upon the ground 

 to receive adoration. They are the rose and 

 the lily, and also the violet, the pink and the 

 strawberry, the last with fruit and flowers to- 

 gether. The symbolists are unanimous in as- 

 cribing humility to the violet ; the pink or carna- 

 tion, which is usually introduced when there 

 are no roses, is, like the rose, the flower of divine 

 love; the strawberry with fruit and flower re- 

 presents the good works of the righteous, or the 

 fruits of the spirit. 



To these are sometimes added the clover and 

 the columbine. According to the legend, Saint 

 Patrick was the first to use the trefoil as an 

 illustration of the Trinity in Unity, and the 

 shamrock or clover is the emblem of the Holy 

 Trinity. The little doves which make up the 

 flower of the columbine wonderfully resemble 



