[1] Juan de Borgoña, Annunciation, with detail, Palacio Arzobispal, Madrid: a vase with five white open flowers on a chest of drawers behind the Virgin.

[2] Anonymous Spanish painter, Annunciation, c. 1430, Museu National d'Art Catalunya, Barcelona: a vase with three lilies in the middle of the picture, between the Angel and the Virgin.

[3] Chora Church (Kariye Museum), Istanbul, 13th-century mosaics: the angel Gabriel, with stem of lilies in his hand, delivering the daily ration of manna to the Virgin in the Temple.

[4] Church of Sopó in Nueva Granada, Colombia: Gabriel, alone looking forward, with the lily as attribute of the Messenger and displaying banner, Ave Maria, Gratia Plena.

[7] Benozzo Gozzoli, Madonna, 15th-century, National Gallery of Prague: Mary, standing with the Child in her arms, flanked by two angels, one of them carrying the stem of lilies.

[8] Thierry Bouts, 15th-century, Triptych of the Adoration of the Three Wise Men, Alte Pinakothet, Munich: the Baptist, clothed in his camel skin with letter belt, and with the Lamb held in his left arm, while a stem of lilies grows beside his right foot.

[9] Filippo Lippi, Adoration of the Child Jesus in a Forest, Dahlem Gallery, Berlin: Mary kneeling near the Child, and the Baptist child beside them, carrying a rod topped with the fleur de lis; beside it, a stem of lilies growing just below the Virgin. The mystical nature of this work is reinforced by the presence of God the Father in the middle of the upper register of the picture, with the dove of the Holy Ghost beneath Him, with wings outspread; over John is Saint Bernardine, sprouting from the mountainside, as if he were a plant.

[10] Giotto di Bondone, The Marriage of Mary, 1302-1305, Chapel of the Scrovegni, Padua: the twig of the bridegroom Joseph, with the dove of the Holy Spirit over it, sprouting with a stem of white lilies.