THE FLORAL SYMBOLISM 

 OF THE GREAT MASTERS 



EMBLEMS AND SYMBOLS^ 



Since the earliest days of Christianity the 

 Church has made use of emblems. The Early 

 Church used them partly protectively to con- 

 ceal their faith from the pagans, and partly 

 because it lacked artists capable of worthily 

 depicting the Godhead in human form. Even 

 when the days of persecution had passed, the 

 Church, restrained by reverential tradition, by 



^ Dr March states very clearly the difference between a 

 symbol and an emblem. ' A symbol stands for an abstract idea, 

 an emblem denotes a concrete thing, an attribute appears in 

 apposition with the person it qualifies; for example, in a pre- 

 sentment of the Blessed Virgin, the lily that she holds in her 

 hand or that flowers by her side is her attribute. When the lily 

 appears alone it represents the Queen of Heaven and is her 

 emblem, but if it indicates purity it is a symbol.' 



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