In the Gallery of Siena there is a panel by Giovanni di Paola, the contemporary and occasional assistant of the better-known Sano di Pietro. The panel, which was painted in 1453, represents the Last Judgment, and, naturally, it is the portion of it which is given to Paradise, that is interesting because of its flower symbolism.

Heaven is depicted as a hill, for in the 15th century the prophet Esdras was the authority relied on for descriptions of the heavenly land, and Paradise, he says, has ‘seven mighty mountains on which grow roses and lilies.’356

At the summit of the hill there are six fruit-bearing trees, for the prophet continues, ‘Saith the Lord, ... I have sanctified and prepared for thee twelve trees laden with diverse fruit.’357

There are six trees, not twelve, in this picture, for, by a convention common enough in early art, where the space did not admit of a certain number, that number was halved.

Beneath the trees wander the happy souls, of whom the greater part appear to have taken holy orders when in the flesh. Those just arrived are welcomed joyfully by the angels or by friends who had preceded them.

On the grassy bank there are lilies, the symbol of purity; the carnation, equalling the rose as the flower of divine love, the violet of humility and the strawberry, whose fruit symbolises the good works of the righteous.

These are the values of the flowers as symbols; as emblems they translate this Heaven as a perfected counter-part of the Church upon Earth, ‘for’ says Durandus, commenting on the text, ‘See the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed.’ ‘This field is the Church, which is verdant with flowers, which shineth with virtues, which is fragrant with good works; and wherein be the roses of martyrs, the lilies of virgins, the violets of confessors, and the verdure of beginners in the faith.’ Following the same authority, the trees are emblems of righteous men, rich in good works.358

So for three different reasons the flowers in this painted Paradise appealed to the devout. They help to give a realistic picture of Heaven, presenting in form and colour the description of the prophet; they express mystically the Christian graces; they represent, to the instructed, the bands of martyrs, the choirs of virgins, and the countless happy souls for which the painter had no space.

The little childish beings, with wounds upon their necks or sides, are the Holy Innocents. Two climb up the lilies which are their attributes as virgin martyrs. Though unbaptised, the Innocents, since they died for Christ, were permitted to enter Heaven.

In the foreground, among the violets, are hares, the hare being an ancient emblem of a Christian, founded upon the words of Tertullian:

‘Upon us, as were we hares, is the hunt let loose.’359

Also the early naturalists averred that the hare slept with his eyes open; whence the prayer of Saint Mectilda:

‘Grant, O Lord, that, like the hare, I may watch for Thee in Spirit, even while my body takes its needful repose.’360