140 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



of laurel in the fine allegorical picture of 

 his ' Entry into Paris after the Battle of 

 Ivry.* ' 



In a hymn of Saint Augustine, Jesus Christ 

 is designated the * Palma bellatorum,' but, 

 perhaps by reason of its pagan origin, and also 

 because it has never been exclusively a religious 

 symbol, Christ as the conqueror of sin and death 

 is seldom depicted with the palm of victory. 

 In a few devotional Crucifixions palms are 

 placed crossways above the Saviour's head, and 

 very rarely it is seen in the hand of the newly- 

 risen Christ. He almost invariably carries in- 

 stead the banner of the Resurrection with a 

 scarlet cross upon a white ground. In one of 

 the rare representations ' where He holds a 

 palm He holds also the banner in His other 

 hand, and it is striking how the adding of the 

 lesser symbol to the greater, an error the early 

 masters carefully avoided, detracts from the 

 dignity of the figure. 



In the four canonical gospels, palms as a 

 symbol are only mentioned once, the occasion 

 being the entry of Jesus Christ ' riding lowly 



' Rubens, Uffizi. * Piero della Francesca, Uffizi. 



