LILY OF THE ANGEL GABRIEL 179 



But look how the three points change them- 

 selves to lily-buds, and open the corolla, as the 

 archangel extends the candid flower towards 

 the Virgin, who was saluted by David and the 

 Fathers as " The lily of the valleys.' The poetry 

 of Christian art thus overthrows mediaeval 

 materialism and lavishes flowers on fair like- 

 nesses of Mary.' 



In this Annunciation we find the three types 

 of lilies used in art — the lily growing freely and 

 naturally in a vase beside the Virgin; the stiff 

 lily, half conventionalized in the angel's hand; 

 and the fleurs-de-lys, wholly conventional, which 

 ornament the arms of the Virgin's seat. 



Simone Martini died in 1344, and by 1359, the 

 date of its completion, every Florentine artist 

 must have seen the wonderful tabernacle raised 

 by Orcagna in Or San Michele, and every artist 

 in Italy must have heard descriptions of the 

 shrine. 



' Che passa di bellezza, s'io ben recolo, 

 Tutti gli altri che son dentro del secolo.' ' 



On a panel of the Tabernacle there is an 

 Annunciation which was the most beautiful 



' Sacchetti. 



