Page 238 - The mystery of faith
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Fig. 5
surrounded by seraphim and cherubim, which as we have already noted are quite similar to those in
the Flight into Egypt from El Espinar, as well as the examples in the reliefs from the Descalzas Reales
Convent in Valladolid.
In much of the imagery attached to Laurentian litany, the specific interpretation of Marian symbols is
often rather strange, based as it was on passages in Genesis and the evangelical Revelations of Saint
John.6 In general, the sun appears in all Marian images, to symbolize how the Virgin Mary shines
splendidly upon all creatures. If the image of the Virgin were to be used in a monstrance, the mirror
would then also be seen as a reference to her role as the speculum justitiae. The inclusion of natural
motifs in a Marian subject, such as roses, palms, cypresses and fruit trees, could be used to allude to
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