THE LILY OF THE SAINTS 231 



present the austere virtues of a monastic life. 

 She is the most distinguished woman who wore 

 the veil, and since she is almost invariably repre- 

 sented with a lily, the lilium candidum is some- 

 times called Saint Catharine's lily. 



Saint Scholastica of the Benedictines ' and 

 Saint Clare of the Franciscans are also usually 

 depicted with lilies. The last, who styled her- 

 self the Little Flower of Saint Francis, has met 

 with great good fortune at the hands of the 

 painters, for two at least, Simone Martini == and 

 Luca Signorelli,^ have very beautifully material- 

 ized her sweetness and humiUty. 



Pictures which represent the mystic es- 

 pousals of any nun usually have the lily as a 

 detail. 



Chief among the monks who carry the flower 

 is Saint Dominic. He was a Spaniard and had 

 all the chivalrous Spanish devotion to the 

 person of the Virgin. It was he who arranged 

 the rosary and instituted it as a religious exer- 

 cise. He founded a community of preachers 

 for the conversion of heretics, which afterwards 



1 Luini, S. Maurizio, Milan. ' S. Francesco, Assisi. 



* Royal Gallery, Berlin. 



