XXI 



THE GOURD 



In the works of Crivelli, who painted in the cities 

 of the Marches between 1468 and 1493, the apple 

 repeatedly occurs with a gourd laid close beside 

 it. In the * Annunciation ' ' they are together 

 upon the foreground's edge. In * The Infant 

 Christ giving the Keys to Saint Peter * ^ the 

 apple lies on the ground and the gourd is sus- 

 pended on the right hand of the throne. In the 

 triptych in the Brera they hang forward pro- 

 minently from the wreath above the Madonna's 

 head. They are again suspended, singly, each side 

 of the head of Saint Giacomo deUa Marca ^ (some- 

 times taken to be Saint Bernadine), toning with 

 the colour scheme, which has all the subdued 

 richness of old Cordova leather ; and exactly the 

 same apple and gourd lie on a ledge before the 

 * Madonna with the Child ' by Francia,* and 



' National Gallery. * Museum, Berlin. 



* Vatican Gallery. * Capitoline Museum, Rome. 



R 257 



