68 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



bare ground of the stableyard, in his ' Adoration 

 of the Shepherds,' ' and in a picture of the six- 

 teenth century by Palmezzano of Forli/ the 

 Child, seated on His Mother's knee, holds a 

 stem of iris as a sceptre; but, on the whole, the 

 iris was little painted in Italy. 



In art which is purely German the iris is 

 very rarely used, though Albert Diirer painted 

 a ' Madonna of the Sword-lily,' ^ but in Spain it 

 holds an important place. Spanish art is poor 

 in symbolism, though it recognized early and 

 prized highly the white hhes of the Annuncia- 

 tion. Except, perhaps, for the flame-tipped 

 dart of divine love, there seems to be no symbol 

 of truly Spanish origin, and those used by 

 Spanish artists were mostly taken from the 

 art of the Netherlands. Flemish art was pro- 

 foundly admired in Spain, and the Spanish were 

 well acquainted with it, for there was naturally 

 much intercourse between the two countries 

 in the days before the Netherlands established 

 their independence. Also Jan van Eyck visited 

 Portugal and Spain in the train of his patron, 



Accademia, Florence. ' The Brera, Milan. 



' The Rudolphinum, Prague. 



