PREFACE 



This little book has been written for the pleasure 

 of those amateurs who are more interested in 

 the idea which inspires a picture than in the 

 picture's workmanship. Naturally, the more 

 accomplished the artist, the more clearly and 

 attractively is he able to set forth his meaning; 

 but with art criticism this book has nothing to 

 do, and the attributions are, for the most part, 

 simply those of the official catalogues of the 

 respective galleries. 



To explain completely even so small a branch 

 of Christian symbolism as that of flowers, an 

 exhaustive knowledge is required of the develop- 

 ment of Christian theology, and of the varying 

 force with which different doctrines appealed 

 at different times to the public mind. But still, 

 these notes may be of some interest to those who 

 care to trace in the work sanctioned by the 

 Church and reverenced by the people the history 

 of Western idealism, and who are sometimes 

 puzzled by the conventions employed by the 

 Masters to illustrate the Divine Mysteries. 



iii 



