THE OLIVE 117 



at the Paraclete. In it the Father wore a closed 

 crown, the Son a crown of thorns, and the Holy 

 Ghost a crown of olive. The group has long 

 since disappeared, and there seems no other 

 instance of the Holy Ghost in human form 

 being represented with the olive. A dove 

 bearing an olive twig could not be an emblem 

 of the Holy Ghost unless the bird's head were 

 encircled with a halo. 



But Christian art uses the ancient symbol 

 of peace repeatedly when illustrating Christ's 

 life upon earth. First we find the angel Gabriel 

 bringing to the Virgin a branch of olive as token 

 that his message is of peace. Sometimes he is 

 also crowned with olive. He comes crowned 

 with peace, and the branch in his hand fore- 

 shadows the reconcihation between God and 

 man which is to come by the Child whose ad- 

 vent he announces. 



The olive branch took precedence of the lily 

 as the symbol carried by the announcing angel. 

 Originated probably by Simone Martini, one of its 

 earliest instances is in his Annunciation now in 

 the Uffizi. In the Florentine school the simple 

 stick carried by the herald angel evolved, as we 



