THE OLIVE 115 



little heavy and inert, a little wanting in interest, 

 as the citizens perhaps would have found their 

 daily life were they condemned to days of peace. 

 In small, fierce Siena the olive was a very 

 favourite symbol and found more frequently 

 than any other. One of the most curious char- 

 acteristics of religious art is the inexactitude with 

 which it reflects a people's mood, for the ideal 

 upon the wall above the altar is often just pre- 

 cisely that to which they do not strive. When 

 the Medici were in power and Florentine social 

 life was at its worldliest, simplicity and purity, 

 almost austerity, were demanded of the artist, 

 and the hly was the favourite symbol. Murillo 

 painted Madonnas to the Church's order, sweet 

 and forgiving, kind to indulgence, almost volup- 

 tuous, at a moment when not only the devo- 

 tions of Jews and heretics but the private life 

 of every citizen of Seville was under stern con- 

 trol. And in Seville, with inquisitorial fires 

 blazing, the Virgin had as attribute the rose of 

 love and charity. So the turbulent Sienese, who, 

 when no enemy knocked at the gates, fought 

 with one another, loved a still and peaceful 

 art. It was conservative, for they cared for 



