FRUIT OF TREE OF KNOWLEDGE 253 



though they give Uttle indication of any action 

 of exchange. 



Northern art, though reahstic, was very 

 placid, and, except in scenes from the Passion, 

 quite unmarked by the sometimes painful pathos 

 of the Italian and Spanish schools. In the 

 Madonna pictures the only faint reminder of 

 the tragedy for which the Child was born into 

 the world is the rosy-cheeked apple in the tiny 

 hand. The mother is satisfied and untroubled, 

 the Child smiling happily, and an apple is a 

 natural, pleasant thing to place within a baby's 

 hand. Rubens painted a delightful ' Holy 

 Family beneath an Apple Tree ' ' — a little scene 

 of idyllic happiness; and scarcely noticeable is 

 the pathetic suggestion of the branch of apples 

 which Zacharias holds towards the little Christ. 



The shifting of theological and artistic stand- 

 points at the Reformation in no way disturbed 

 the Northern love of Old Testament analogies or 

 the affection for this particular symbol, and in 

 Germany one of its most charming developments 

 was the Christmas tree, the evergreen tree laden 

 with golden and silver apples, set up in every 



' Imperial Gallery, Vienna. 



