The OLIVE, as the well-known emblem of peace and reconciliation, is figured on the tombs of the early martyrs; sometimes with, sometimes without, the dove. The olive is borne as the attribute of peace by the angel Gabriel, by St. Agnes, and by St. Pantaleon; sometimes also by the angels in a Nativity, who announce ‘peace on earth.’ The DOVE in Christian Art is the emblem of the Holy Ghost; and, besides its introduction into various subjects from the New Testament, as the Annunciation, the Baptism, the Pentecost, it is placed near certain saints who are supposed to have been particularly inspired, as St. Gregory, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Hilarius, and others. The dove is also a symbol of simplicity and purity of heart, and as such it is introduced into pictures of female saints, and especially of the Madonna and Child. It is also the emblem of the soul; in this sense it is seen issuing from the lips of dying martyrs, and is found in pictures of St. Eulalia of Merida, and St. Scholastica the sister of St. Benedict. The LILY is another symbol of purity, of very general application. We find it in pictures of the Virgin, and particularly in pictures of the Annunciation. It is placed significantly in the hand of St. Joseph, the husband of the Virgin Mary, his staff, according to the legend, having put forth lilies; it is given, as an emblem merely, to St. Francis, St. Anthony of Padua, St. Dominick, and St. Catherine of Siena, to express the particular purity of their lives. The UNICORN is another ancient symbol of purity, in allusion to the fable that it could never be captured except by a virgin stainless in mind and life; it has become in consequence the emblem peculiarly of _female_ chastity, but in Christian Art is appropriate only to the Virgin Mary and St. Justina. The FLAMING HEART expresses fervent piety and love: in early pictures it is given to St. Augustine, merely in allusion to a famous passage in his ‘Confessions;’ but in the later schools of Art it has become a general and rather vulgar emblem of spiritual love: in this sense it is given to St. Theresa; St. Maria Maddalena de’ Pazzi, a Florentine nun; and some of the Jesuit saints. The BOOK in the hands of the Evangelists and the Apostles is an attribute, and represents the Gospel. In the hand of St. Stephen it is the Old Testament; in the hand of any other saint it may be the Gospel, but it may also be an emblem only, signifying that the saint was famous for his learning or his writings; it has this sense in pictures of St. Catherine, the Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Bonaventura.