THE IRIS 65 



used exclusively as the symbol of virginal purity, 

 more particularly in relation to the fact that the 

 Virgin Mary was a mother, but the iris, the royal 

 lily, appears to be the emblem or attribute of the 

 incarnate Godhead. Though Saint Bernard of 

 Clairvaux had attributed the metaphor, ' I am 

 . . . the lily of the valleys,' to the Virgin, Origen, 

 the older and, in the North, weightiei authority, 

 held Christ to be the lily. In the * Adoration of 

 the Shepherds ' ' of Hugo van der Goes, where the 

 symbolism all refers to the Child, there is no white 

 hly, but the orange lily and the purple and white 

 iris. In the Annunciation of Memling, the single 

 iris below the hlies may be the emblem of the 

 Prince of David's house who was to be born of 

 virginal innocence — and it may have the same 

 meaning where it rises above the hlies in the 

 picture where the royal Child sits upon His 

 mother's knee. It may also indicate royal birth 

 in the ' Saint Barbara ' of the Prado. She was 

 the daughter of a King, but in this painting has 

 no crown or other attribute of royalty. It is 

 noticeable, too, that had there been a white hly 

 in the vase it would have been difficult to dis- 



' Ufiizi, Florence. 



