In Christian iconography plants appear mainly as attributes on the pictures of Christ or the Virgin Mary. Christological plants are among others the vine, the columbine, the carnation and the flowering cross, which grows out of an acanthus plant surrounded by tendrils. Mariological symbols include the rose, lily, olive, cedar, cypress and palm. Plants also appear as attributes of saints, especially virgins and martyrs.
In Christian art plants and flowers show up chiefly as traits on the photos of Christ or the Virgin Mary. Plants additionally show up as characteristics of holy people, particularly virgins and saints. [1]
| Flower | Symbol | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Acacia | The immortality of the soul | Durability of the wood [1] |
| Almond | Divine approval | From the Book of Numbers: "The next day Moses entered the Tent of the Testimony and saw that Aaron's staff, which represented the house of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds." [1] [2] |
| Anemone | Crucifixion scenes; also associated with the sorrow of Virgin Mary | Anemones are said to have grown at Golgotha [3] |
| Columbine | Victory of life over death, thus a plant assigned to Christ, furthermore a symbol of humility, the Holy Spirit and the Holy Trinity | The name "columbine" comes from the Latin for "dove", due to the resemblance of the inverted flower to five doves clustered together. [4] [3] |
| Daisy | Innocence, beauty, salvation, modesty, purity and love | Simplicity [3] |
| Clover | Holy Trinity, Patrick of Ireland | Three petals that compose a flower [3] |
| Hyacinth | Prudence, constancy, desire of heaven and peace of mind | From the story of Hyacinthus, upon whose death the flower sprung forth [5] |
| Iris | Our Lady of Sorrows | Sharp leaves like swords [3] |
| Lily | Purity, theological virtues of justice, charity and hope; also the Holy Trinity. The White Lily is specific to virginal saints, whether female or male | Lilies with three petals [3] |
| Lily of the valley | Chastity, humility and humbleness of Mary | |
| Palm branch | Martyrdom | Symbol of victory, triumph and peace |
| Passionflower | Crucifixion of Jesus | Each part of the flower represents a different aspect of the Passion of Christ [3] |
| Primula | Virgin Mary | Keys of heaven |
| Rose | Mary, other virgins | The white rose symbolises innocence and faithfulness, the red rose stands for love and passion [3] [6] |
| Snowdrop | Virgin Mary | Symbolises hope, purity and virtue |
| Strawberry | Virgin Mary | Symbolises righteousness and humility. Their flowers embody chastity, but they also became a symbol of transience and vanity. The fruit is a symbol for the Incarnation of Christ. |
| White tulip | Holy Spirit | White tulips are used to send a message of forgiveness |
An aureola or aureole is the radiance of luminous cloud which, in paintings of sacred personages, surrounds the whole figure.
A wreath is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle.
Floriography is a means of cryptological communication through the use or arrangement of flowers. Meaning has been attributed to flowers for thousands of years, and some form of floriography has been practiced in traditional cultures throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Plants and flowers are used as symbols in the Hebrew Bible, particularly of love and lovers in the Song of Songs, as an emblem for the Israelite people, and for the coming Messiah. William Shakespeare ascribed emblematic meanings to flowers, especially in Hamlet.
The Tree of Jesse is a depiction in art of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, shown in a branching tree which rises from Jesse of Bethlehem, the father of King David. It is the original use of the family tree as a schematic representation of a genealogy.
A mandorla is an almond-shaped aureola, i.e. a frame that surrounds the totality of an iconographic figure. It is usually synonymous with vesica, a lens shape. Mandorlas often surround the figures of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary in traditional Christian iconography. It is distinguished from a halo in that it encircles the entire body and not just the head. It is commonly used to frame the figure of Christ in Majesty in early medieval and Romanesque art, as well as Byzantine art of the same periods. It is the shape generally used for mediaeval ecclesiastical seals, secular seals generally being round.
Lilium candidum, the Madonna lily or white lily, is a plant in the true lily family. It is native to the Balkans and Middle East, and naturalized in other parts of Europe, including France, Italy, and Ukraine, and in North Africa, the Canary Islands, Mexico, and other regions. It has been cultivated since antiquity, for at least 3,000 years, and has great symbolic value since then for many cultures. It is susceptible to several virus diseases common to lilies, and especially to Botrytis fungus. One technique to avoid problems with viruses is to grow plants from seed instead of bulblets.
The Mérode Altarpiece is an oil on oak panel triptych, now in The Cloisters, in New York City. It is unsigned and undated, but attributed to Early Netherlandish painter Robert Campin and an assistant. The three panels represent, from left to right, the donors kneeling in prayer in a garden, the moment of the Annunciation to Mary, which is set in a contemporary, domestic setting, and Saint Joseph, a carpenter with the tools of his trade. The many elements of religious symbolism include the lily and fountain, and the Holy Spirit represented by the rays of light coming through from the central panel's left hand window.
The Portinari Altarpiece or Portinari Triptych is an oil-on-wood triptych painting by the Flemish painter Hugo van der Goes, commissioned by Tommaso Portinari, representing the Adoration of the Shepherds. It measures 253 x 304 cm, and is now in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. This altarpiece is filled with figures and religious symbols. Of all the late-fifteenth-century Flemish artworks, this painting is said to be the most studied.
Symbolism of Christian saints has been used from the very beginnings of the religion. Each saint is said to have led an exemplary life and symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene, and to give each of the Saints something of a personality in art. They are often carried in the hand by the Saint.
Various folk cultures and traditions assign symbolic meaning to the rose, though these are seldom understood in-depth. Examples of deeper meanings lie within the language of flowers, and how a rose may have a different meaning in arrangements. Examples of common meanings of different coloured roses are: true love (red), mystery (blue), innocence or purity (white), death (black), friendship (yellow), and passion (orange).
The lotus, Nelumbo nucifera, is an aquatic plant that plays a central role in the art of Indian religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism.
The Assumption of the Virgin Mary does not appear in the New Testament, but appears in apocryphal literature of the 3rd and 4th centuries, and by 1000 was widely believed in the Western Church, though not made formal Catholic dogma until 1950. It first became a popular subject in Western Christian art in the 12th century, along with other narrative scenes from the Life of the Virgin, and the Coronation of the Virgin. These "Marian" subjects were especially promoted by the Cistercian Order and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux.
Flores de Mayo is a festival held in the Philippines in the month of May. It is one of the May devotions to the Blessed Virgin Mary and lasts for the entire month.
Nicolaes van Verendael or Nicolaes van Veerendael was a Flemish painter active in Antwerp who is mainly known for his flower paintings and vanitas still lifes. He was a frequent collaborator of other Antwerp artists to whose compositions he added the still life elements. He also painted a number of singeries, i.e., scenes with monkeys dressed and acting as humans.
Hortus conclusus is a Latin term, meaning literally "enclosed garden". Both words in hortus conclusus refer linguistically to enclosure. It describes a genre of garden that was enclosed as a practical concern, a major theme in the history of gardening.
Christian symbolism is the use of symbols, including archetypes, acts, artwork or events, by Christianity. It invests objects or actions with an inner meaning expressing Christian ideas.
Within Catholicism, a miracle of the roses is a miracle in which roses manifest an activity of God or of a saint. Such a miracle is presented in various hagiographies and legends in different forms, and it occurs in connection with diverse individuals such as Saints Elizabeth of Hungary (1207–1231), Elizabeth of Portugal (1271–1336), Saint Dorothy, a 4th-century virgin martyr at Caesarea in Cappadocia, and Our Lady of Guadalupe.
The Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele is a large oil-on-oak panel painting completed around 1434–1436 by the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck. It shows the painting's donor, Joris van der Paele, within an apparition of saints. The Virgin Mary is enthroned at the centre of the semicircular space, which most likely represents a church interior, with the Christ Child on her lap. St. Donatian stands to her right, Saint George—the donor's name saint—to her left. The panel was commissioned by van der Paele as an altarpiece. He was then a wealthy clergyman from Bruges, but elderly and gravely ill, and intended the work as his memorial.
The Immaculate Conception is a painting by Italian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770). The painting was one of seven altarpieces commissioned in March 1767 from Tiepolo by King Charles III of Spain for the Church of Saint Pascual in Aranjuez, then under construction. This was originally an Alcantarine (Franciscan) monastery that was later assigned to the Conceptionist nuns.
Symbolism of Christian saints has been used from the very beginnings of the religion. Each saint is said to have led an exemplary life and symbols have been used to tell these stories throughout the history of the Church. A number of Christian saints are traditionally represented by a symbol or iconic motif associated with their life, termed an attribute or emblem, in order to identify them. The study of these forms part of iconography in art history. They were particularly used so that the illiterate could recognize a scene, and to give each of the Saints something of a personality in art. They are often carried in the hand by the Saint.