Matilda. ↩

The seven Virtues holding the seven golden candlesticks, or the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. ↩

The descent of the eagle upon the tree is interpreted by Buti as the persecution of the Christians by the Emperors. The rending of the bark of the tree is the “breaking down of the constancy and fortitude of holy men”; the blossoms are “virtuous examples or prayers,” and the new leaves, “the virtuous deeds that holy men had begun to do, and which were interrupted by these persecutions.” ↩

Buti says:⁠—