THE PARADISE OF 

 GIOVANNI DI PAOLO 



IN the Gallery of Siena there is a panel by Giovanni di Paola, the 

 contemporary and occasional assistant of the better-known Sano di 

 Pietro. The panel, which was painted in 1453, represents the Last 

 Judgment, and, naturally, it is the portion of it which is given to Paradise, 

 that is interesting because of its flower symbolism. 



Heaven is depicted as a hill, for in the 15th century the prophet 

 Esdras was the authority relied on for descriptions of the heavenly 

 land, and Paradise, he says, has ' seven mighty mountains on which 

 grow roses and lilies.' ^ 



At the summit of the hill there are six fruit-bearing trees, for the 



prophet continues, ' Saith the Lord T have sanctified and 



prepared for thee twelve trees laden with diverse fruit.' 



There are six trees, not twelve, in this picture, for, by a convention 

 common enough in early art, where the space did not admit of a certain 

 number, that number was halved. 



Beneath the trees wander the happy souls, of whom the greater 

 part appear to have taken holy orders when in the flesh. Those just 

 arrived are welcomed joyfully by the angels or by friends who had 

 preceded them. 



On the grassy bank there are lilies, the symbol of purity ; the 

 carnation, equalling the rose as the flower of divine love, the violet of 

 humility and the strawberry, whose fruit symbolises the good works of 

 the righteous. 



1 II. Esdras II., 19. II. Esdras II., 18. 



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