"In virga Aaron Maria ostendebatur". New interpretation of the bouquet of lilies in the spanish gothic "Annunciation" in the light of patristic and theological sources

Abstract

In clear disagreement with the conventional interpretation of the lily in the iconographic theme of The Annunciation –illustrated with great approprieteness in the ten Spanish Gothic paintings we discussed here—, this paper proposes two new theological explanations of such flower in this biblical scene. We rely for this on numerous and consistent exegesis of prestigious Church Fathers and medieval theologians on the prodigious flowering of dry rod of Aaron. Thus, basing ourselves in that perfect exegetical matching of Christian thinkers, which certifies in this issue an established dogmatic tradition over nearly a millennium, we try to show that the bouquet of lilies in the Annunciation scene shows two deep symbolism, Christological and Mariological, essentially interrelated, i.e.: that bouquet of lilies means both the supernatural human incarnation of God the Son and the Mary’s being virginal mother of God.