THE ROSE 75 



down upon the redeemed souls beneath, and in 

 Botticelli's ' Coronation of the Virgin ' ' the air 

 is also full of roses, symbols of the love of God. 

 And symbols of divine love are also the falhng 

 roses in that vision of Saint Francis which was 

 so often painted by Spanish artists and called 

 by them ' La Portincula.' ^ The saint, kneeUng 

 in his cell one winter's night, was much troubled 

 by the memory of a fair woman. To overcome 

 the temptation he went out and threw himself 

 among the briars of the wilderness. He was 

 rewarded by a vision of the Saviour, seated in 

 glory, with the Virgin by His side, and as a 

 token that his penitences were accepted the 

 thorns bloomed with roses. In most renderings 

 of the legend the mystical roses fall in a shower 

 around him, and in Murillo's fine picture ^ the 

 putti are energetically pelting the saint with 

 blossoms. It was a subject painted con amore 

 by the Spaniards, for — Assumptions apart — 



' Accademia, Florence. 



' The Portincula or Porzuincola (the little portion) built by 

 Saint Benedict and rebuilt by Saint Francis was the first 

 church of the Franciscan order. It is now enclosed by the 

 Church of S. Maria degli Angeli, and, close by, the rose-bushes of 

 the legend, still thornless, are shown. 



3 Prado, Madrid. 



