The floral symbolism of the great masters - The Knowledge Den

PREFACE
This little book has been written for the pleasure
of those amateurs who are more interested in
the idea which inspires a picture than in the
picture's workmanship. Naturally, the more
accomplished the artist, the more clearly and
attractively is he able to set forth his meaning;
but with art criticism this book has nothing to
do, and the attributions are, for the most part,
simply those of the official catalogues of the
respective galleries.
To explain completely even so small a branch
of Christian symbolism as that of flowers, an
exhaustive knowledge is required of the development
of Christian theology, and of the varying
force with which different doctrines appealed
at different times to the public mind. But still,
these notes may be of some interest to those who
care to trace in the work sanctioned by the
Church and reverenced by the people the history
of Western idealism, and who are sometimes
puzzled by the conventions employed by the
Masters to illustrate the Divine Mysteries.