The Adoration of the Shepherds (detail)
by GOES, Hugo van der, Oil on wood
The picture shows a vase and a glass containing orange lilies, the symbol of the Passion, three irises, Van der Goes’s favourite flower, and a few columbine stalks, the emblem of melancholy and a common symbol of the Virgin’s pains. A sheaf of corn lies flat on the ground behind these flowers, alluding to the Incarnation and the Eucharist.