Legends of the Madonna, as represented in the fine artsForming the third series of Sacred and legendary art . ower, Or the faint dying day-hymn stole not a breath crept through the rosy ah-,And yet the forest leaves seemd stirrd with prayer. gelion, ix. 7. 192 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. as the scene of the interview, an interior which is sometimeslike an oratory, sometimes a portico with open arcades; butmore generally a bedroom. The poverty of Joseph and Mary,and their humble condition in life, are sometimes attendedto, but not always ; for, according to one tradition, the houseat Naza
Legends of the Madonna, as represented in the fine artsForming the third series of Sacred and legendary art . ower, Or the faint dying day-hymn stole not a breath crept through the rosy ah-,And yet the forest leaves seemd stirrd with prayer. gelion, ix. 7. 192 LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA. as the scene of the interview, an interior which is sometimeslike an oratory, sometimes a portico with open arcades; butmore generally a bedroom. The poverty of Joseph and Mary,and their humble condition in life, are sometimes attendedto, but not always ; for, according to one tradition, the houseat Nazareth was that which Mary had inherited from herparents, Joachim and Anna, who were people of , the painters had an excuse for making the chamberrichly furnished, the portico sustained by marble pillars, ordecorated with sculpture. In the German and Flemishpictures, the artist, true to the national characteristic ofnaive and literal illustration, gives us a German or a Gothicchamber, with a lattice window of small panes of glass, anda couch with pillows, or a comfortable four-post Van Eytk. furnished with draperies, thus imparting to the whole scenean air of the most vivid homely reality. THE ANNUNCIATION. 193 As for the accessories, the most usual, almost indispensable, The Accesso. rics. is the pot of lilies, the symbolical Fleur de Marie, which Ihave already explained at length. There is also a basketcontaining needlework and implements of female industry, asscissors, &c., not merely to express Marys habitual industry,but because it is related that when she returned to her house, she took the purple linen, and sat down to w^ork it. Thework-basket is therefore seldom omitted. Sometimes a distafflies at her feet, as in Raphaels Annunciation. In old Germanpictures we have often a spinning-wheel. To these emblemsof industry is often added a basket, or a dish, containingfruit; and near it a pitcher of water, to express the tem-perance of the blessed Virgi
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