THE FLOWER SYMBOLISTS 31 



the little doves which in early art, particularly 

 in the French miniatures of the thirteenth and 

 fourteenth centuries, represent the seven gifts 

 of the Holy Spirit. It is true that in the colum- 

 bine the little doves number five, not seven, 

 but the Flemish artists, always extremely careful 

 in their symbolism, rectified this by painting 

 the plant with seven blooms upon it. It should 

 only be used as the attribute of God the Son. 



Towards the end of the fifteenth century a 

 tiny niche was made for the daisy in Christian 

 iconography. It is found almost exclusively 

 in ' Adorations,' where it replaces the lilium 

 candidum. It was felt that, suitable as the 

 tall austere lily might be to express the Virgin's 

 purity or the celibacy of the monastic saints, 

 the little wide-eyed daisy was a prettier, sweeter 

 symbol of the perfect innocence of the Divine 

 Child. 



The jasmine is not strictly a holy flower and 

 has been neglected by the writers on symbolism, 

 but it appears repeatedly in religious art. Its 

 star-shaped blossom seems to be the symbol 

 of divine hope or of heavenly felicity, and it is 

 found with roses and lilies beside the Madonna. 



