284 



It was usual to add a group oi putti about the Virgin's feet (htr feet, 

 according to an injunction of the Inquisition as to 'decency' being 

 carefully covered) and these putti almost always carried flowers, the 

 rose, lily, olive and palm. Sometimes the iris was added, and occasion- 

 ally the iris alone was used. ^ Very often a />m<^o carries a looking-glass, - 

 a symbol of the Immaculate Conception which appears to be of Spanish 

 origin, but which is perhaps a variation or development of the 

 transparent vase, which in the 15th century art was a symbol of the 

 virgin birth of Christ. The idea is that the glass, whatever be the 

 image cast upon it, remains in itself unstained. 



In Murillo's masterpiece, 'La Purissima' of the Prado, the flowers 

 indicate Mary's virtues. The rose, symbol of love and mercy, show 

 her as the Mater tnisericordicc ; the lily shows her purity — she is 

 ' La Purissima : ' the palm of triumph is hers as the Queen of Heaven 

 and the olive tells of the healing she brings to mankind ; she is the 

 Consolatrix Affiictorum. 



And the Church having identified the Virgin with the ' Wisdom ' 

 of the 24th Chapter of Ecclesiasticus, these symbols are also her direct 

 emblems, for, says Wisdom : 



' I was exalted like a palm-tree in Engaddi, and as a rose-plant in 

 Jericho, as a fair olive-tree in a pleasant field.' 



And the lily is always her emblem as 'The lily of the valleys. ' 



It is noticeable that this figure of the Virgin, realized from the 

 word picture of the Revelation of Saint John, was one that appealed 

 strongly to the Spanish. She is 'clothed with the sun and the moon 

 under her feet.' The moon is represented as the crescent moon which 

 was the sacred device of the followers of Mahomet, and which had 

 surmounted innumerable mosques throughout the Iberian peninsula 

 for more than five hundred years. Ferdinand, husband of Isabella, 

 put an end to the Moorish dominion in 1492, but the impress of the 

 Moor is to this day strong on the land, and in the 17th century it seemed 

 a fitting thing that the Virgin's foot should be upon the hated crescent 

 which symbolized Moorish rule and the faith of Islam. It was therefore, 

 as a symbol of the Mohamedan faith [rather than as a symbol of chastity 

 through its connection with the Goddess Diana, as is sometimes 

 suggested] , that representations of the Virgin with her feet upon a 

 crescent, became so popular in Spain. 



^ Jose Antolines, .\Ite Pinakothek, Munich. ''Murillo, Prado, Madrid. 



