FROM ACRE TO N.VZARETII. 145 
allusion to the name of Nazareth, has been seen chap. 
upon religious pictures as long as any specirnens ■_ 
the Archangel, in pictures of the Annu7iciation : thereby denotiug^ the 
advent of the Messiah. Its original consecration was of very high 
antiquity. In the Song of Solomon (ch. ii. 1, 2.) it is mentioned 
with the Rose, as an emblem of the Church : " I am the Rose of 
Sharon, and the Lily of the Valley." This alone is sufficient to 
explain its appearance upon religious paintings. Its introduction as 
a tj'pe in Heraldry may be referred to the Crusades. It appears in 
the crown worn by Edward the Confessor, according to a coin 
engraved both in Speed and in Camden. But there is another circum- 
stance which renders its situation upon pictures of the firkin pecu- 
liarly appropriate: the word Nazareth, in Hebrew, signifies a flower i 
and St. Jerom, who mentions this circumstance (toni. I. epist. xvii. 
ad Marcellam : See also Fullei's Palestine, Book II. c. 6. p. 143. 
Z/onrf. 1650) considers it to be the cause of the allusion made to a 
fiower in the prophecies concerning Christ. Marinus Samdus hints 
at this prophetical allusion in the writings of Isaiah. These are his 
words : " Haec est ilia amabilis civitas Nazareth, quae fiorida inter- 
pretatur : in quA flos campi oritur, dura in Virgiue Verbum caro 
efficitur Ornatus tanien illo nobili jlore, super quem constat 
Spiritum Domini quievisse. ' Ascmdet^ inquit Isayas, ^ fios de radice 
Jesse, et reqiiiescet sniper eum Spirit us Doinini.' " {Marin. Sanut. Secret. 
Fidel. Cruc. lib. iii. pars 7. c. 2.) Hence the cause wherefore, in antient 
paintings used for illuminating Missals, the Rose^.nd the Lili/, separately 
or combined, accompany pictures of the J'irgin. In old engravings, 
particularly those by Albert Durer, the Plrgin is rarely represented 
unaccompanied by the Lili/. Hence, again, the origin of those singular 
paintings wherein subjects connected with the history of Christ are 
represented within a wreath c)f flowers, added, not for ornamental 
purposes only, but as having a religious interpretation ; and hence, 
in all probability, the curious antient legend of the miraculous 
Jlowering of Joseph's staff in the Temple, whereby the will of God, 
concerning his marriage with the Virgin, was said to be miraculously 
manifested. See the Book of ' The Golden Legende,' as printed by 
Carton. In the account given by Quaresmius concerning Nazareth 
(lib. vii. c. 5. Elucid. Terr. Sa7ict.) Christ is denominated " Flo» 
cqmpi, et Lilium convalUum, ctijtis odor est sicut odor agri pleni," Vid. 
torn. II. p. 817. Jntverp.lGZd- 
