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Theme: purity
The archetypal flower symbolising purity is the white Madonna lily. Its association with the Virgin Mary dates from an early Christian legend, in which her tomb was filled with lilies after her assumption into heaven.
Religious commentators, including the Venerable Bede, explained that the white petals represented her spotless body and the golden stamens her soul glowing with light.
This mystic flower appeared most often in paintings of the Annunciation, representing the moment when the Angel Gabriel announced to the Virgin that she would bear God's son. A white lily was placed in a vase in the foreground of the scene, or held by the Angel, and sometimes a small enclosed garden known as the hortus conclusus reinforced the message of virginity.
This type of devotional painting influenced other scenes of the Virgin and Child with saints, also set in gardens with lilies and other flowers.
Other white, lily-like flowers reflected this meaning, especially lily-of-the-valley, leucojum and snowdrops, or white flowers with golden centres like roses and daisies.
In Victorian times, purity was conferred on the maidens and nuns painted alongside lilies. |
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