THE STRAWBERRY 269 



raised bed filled with exquisitely-rendered straw- 

 berries. Behind is a hedge of roses, and at her 

 feet violets and lilies of the valley. In the fore- 

 ground is a small figure of the donor kneehng 

 among tufts of snowdrops. The snowdrop is 

 rare as a symbol (though by no means misplaced 

 in a Madonna picture, having all the qualities, 

 except the perfume, of the hly of the valley), 

 and it was probably the individual fancy of 

 the donor. 



The strawberry is not mentioned in Scripture, 

 neither does it seem to have been remarked by 

 those Fathers of the Church who concerned 

 themselves with symbohsm, but it was very 

 successful in its appeal to the artists of the 

 Renaissance. It is a very perfect fruit, with 

 neither thorns nor stone, but sweet, soft and 

 dehcious through and through. Its flowers 

 are of the whiteness of innocence and its leaves 

 almost of the sacred trefoil form, and since it 

 grows upon the ground, not on a tree, there is no 

 possibility of its being the dread fruit of the 

 Tree of Knowledge. 



Its meaning always appears to be the same; 

 it is the symbol of perfect righteousness, or the 



