lilies

There's a park near the coloseo, that can be seen from inside of the coloseo, yet tourists don't venture there.  Which works out well since the locals always have reading spots in the sun.

The other day I had a walk there, and on the walk I noticed a floral symbol on a step by the side entrance. If I hadn't combed the area I wouldn't have seen it...  Since the symbol could have passed as an intended mistake, intended mistakes are sometimes hard to spot. .. Once I examined all of the stairs I found three on that set, which all varied in design.

After this discovery I took to examining other sets of stairs, there were two others. One was brick which probably means it was renovated... And there were two other flowers on the other.

After this, I remembered that this design was also used as a drain at the Spanish Steps... I've also been seeing it on the exteriors of buildings.

This morning I showed my barista the photos on my phone. "Che significa?," I said.

"It's a coincidence," said he.

"You shouldn't lie if you don't know the answer." I said. The he called be Sherlock Holmes, and I will not tell you what I called him. 

~

After some web searching I think it's safe to say that these floral designs were done in the likeness of lilies.  Leonardo da Vinci, El Greco, and Botticelli incorporated a lily in their paintings of Archangel Gabriel's visit to the Virgin Mary.

This may also be of some importance: "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not neither do they spin. And yet I saw unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." - Christ, from The Sermon On The Mount.

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This may make sense since Rome is the Pope's house.