i88 FLORAL SYMBOLISM 



lived fashion for depicting Tobias with three 

 archangels. 



There are two of these pictures in Florence ; ' 

 others at Verona/ Turin ^ and Munich.^ In each 

 Michael is armed, Raphael grasps Tobias by the 

 hand, and Gabriel carries a branch of lilies. 



But the four figures in a row make an 

 awkward composition, and stiffness is avoided 

 at the expense of dignity. A mincing angel^ 

 too conscious of his pretty wings and daintily- 

 held lily, is the Gabriel of the best known 

 of these pictures, attributed of late years to 

 Botticini. 



The lily is, of course, here used non-symboli- 

 cally, merely to distinguish one archangel from 

 another, and for the same reason that Michael 

 is given the sword and frequently the scales 

 for the weighing of souls, Raphael the traveller's 

 staff and gourd, or, when with Tobias, a small 

 box. The angel Gabriel's primary function 

 is to be the herald of God, as it is Michael's to 

 lead the hosts of Heaven, and Raphael's to guide 



^ Botticini, Accademia ; School of Botticelli, Accademia. 



' Carotto, S. Eufemia, Verona. 



^ Alte Pinakothek. 



■* Rossello di Jacopo Franchi, Accademia, Florence. 



