Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical Architecture

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Manuel de Villegas, famous in Old Castile as the translator and imitator Of Anacreon, gives in Las Eroticas a vivid description of a duel between Amor and a bee, the two ravishers of hearts and flowers. The combat ended with the painful wounding of the god and the death of the insect, and thus ravaged hearts and pillaged flowers were both avenged. In a madrigal Of the Roman Arcadian, Felice Zappi, Cupids swarm like bees round the head Of the loved one, clinging to her hair, nestling in her bosom, gathering honey from her lips, and waving their torches out of her eyes. In his charm ing lyric Die Biene, Lessing gives a didactic turn to Anacreon's poem already referred to, and makes Amor learn a lesson of strategy from his misfor tune: henceforth he was wont to lurk in roses and violets, and, when a maiden came to pluck them, flew forth as a bee and stung. A kiss is also personified as a bee, which extracts honey from the lips, and, at the same time, pierces the heart with its sting.