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Tree of Jesse Cutting from an Antiphonary German, c. 1115-1125 Cleveland, Museum of Art Jesse sits at the bottom of this image, with two branches emerging from his chest. These branches coil around to envelope some of his descendants. However, straight above his head is his most important lineage, that of David. Directly above him is David himself, then above him is the Virgin Mary. Above Mary is Jesus, in whom the branches of Jesse's lineage converge and flower. |
The third of the "O Antiphons", for December 19th reads:
"O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid."This title "Flower of Jesse's stem" derives from the lineage of Jesus. He is a descendant of Jesse, father of King David, and the presumed subject of the prophecy of Isaiah (read on the Second Sunday of Advent in Year A), which reads:
"But a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse,
and from his roots a bud shall blossom.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him:
a spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
A spirit of counsel and of strength,
a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the LORD,
and his delight shall be the fear of the LORD.Not by appearance shall he judge,
nor by hearsay shall he decide,
But he shall judge the poor with justice,
and decide fairly for the land’s afflicted.
He shall strike the ruthless with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked.
Justice shall be the band around his waist,
and faithfulness a belt upon his hips.
Then the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat;
The calf and the young lion shall browse together,
with a little child to guide them.
The cow and the bear shall graze,
together their young shall lie down;
the lion shall eat hay like the ox.
The baby shall play by the viper’s den,
and the child lay his hand on the adder’s lair.
They shall not harm or destroy on all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be filled with knowledge of the LORD,as water covers the sea.
The root of Jesse,
set up as a signal for the peoples—
Him the nations will seek out;
his dwelling shall be glorious.
(Isaiah 11:1-10)
This image, of Jesse as the root and Jesus as the flower (sometimes also translated as rod), resulted in one of the best known of medieval images, the Tree of Jesse. This is not to be confused with the modern "Jesse tree" which is a sometimes charming Advent decoration, a kind of Advent calendar, especially in use in homes with children. Instead, this is a serious didactic image, making visual the human ancestry of Jesus.
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| Anton Mormann, Madonna and Child in a Jesse Tree Mandorla German, 1928 Ölde, Catholic Parish Church of Saint John the Baptist |
In most of the Jesse Tree images, we see Jesse, asleep, either lying down or sitting up. Out of his body (generally, but not always from his mid-section, the location of his "loins") grows a tree or a vine, which branches as it grows. The branches are occupied by his descendents, often shown in chronological order. Most of the images choose to illustrate only a few of the descendents, although David is usually prominent. Very rarely all the generations named in the beginning of Matthew's Gospel are shown.
Medieval Stained Glass
Among the best known of the medieval Jesse trees are two famous stained glass windows, dated to the middle decades of the 12th century, at the abbey of St. Denis outside Paris and at Chartres cathedral in Ile-de-France. These two immensely important churches were the hatching grounds for the Gothic style in architecture and embellishment that would dominate most of Europe for the following 300 years. Their influence was widespread.
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| Jesse Tree, Stained Glass French, c. 1140-1144 St. Denis, Abbey of St. Denis |
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| Jesse Tree, Stained Glass French, c. 1150-1170 Chartres, Cathedral
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Therefore, it is not surprising that the image of the tree of Jesse would appear in other forms of art during the remainder of the Gothic period. It appears in particular in manuscripts painted all over Europe during these centuries.
Manuscript Illumination
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| Tree of Jesse From the Siegburg Lectionary German, c. 1125-1150 London, British Library MS Harley 2889, fol. 4r |
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| Tree of Jesse |
From the Lambeth Bible
English, c. 1140-1150
London, Lambeth Palace
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| Tree of Jesse Single Leaf from a Psalter English (Canterbury), c. 1155-1160 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M 724, fol. 1v |
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| Master of Simon de Saint Albans and Workshop, Tree of Jesse From a Bible French (Champagne), c. 1170-1180 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 16746, fol. 7v |
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| Tree of Jesse From a Gospel Book French (Champagne), c. 1185-1195 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 11534, fol. 207v |
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| Tree of Jesse From a Bible French (Troyes), c. 1190-1200 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 8823, fol. 9v |
Often the image of the branching vine or tree makes ingenious use of the shape of the page and takes advantage of the letter L, which is the initial letter of the opening of the Gospel of Matthew in the Latin Vulgate, "Liber generationis". Jesse is shown lying in sleep as the horizontal bar of the letter, while his descendents occupy the vertical bar.
At other times it spreads out and occupies the entire space of the page, often with many branches.
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| Master of the Ingeborg Psalter, Tree of Jesse From the Ingeborg Psalter French, c. 1195 Chantilly, Musée Condé MS 94695, fol. 14v |
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| *The Tree of Jesse From the Munich Golden Psalter English (Oxford), c. 1201 Munich, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek MS Clm 835, fol. 121r |
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| Master of Blanche of Castille, Jesse Tree From the Psalter of St. Louis and Blance of Castille French (Paris), c. 1225 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Arsenal 1186, fol. 15v |
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| Jesse Tree From the Windmill Psalter English (London), c. 1280-1299 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library MS M 102, fol.1v |
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| Queen Mary Master, Tree of Jesse From the Queen Mary Psalter English (London), c. 1310-1320 London, British Library MS Royal 2 B VII, fol. 67v |
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| *Jesse Tree From an Incomplete Bible English (Anglo-Norman), c. 1366-1370 Paris, Bibliotheque nattionale de France MS Francais 1, fol. 329r |
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| Jesse Tree From a Book of Hours French (Rouen). c. 1475-1500 The Hague, Koninklijk Bibliotheek MS 133 D 17, fol. 24r |
and south to Spain, where the lower section of the central pillar of the famed Portico de la Gloria at the great shrine of Santiago de Compostela is decorated with a Jesse tree:
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| Santiago de Compostela, Portico de la Gloria Spanish, 12th century Santiago de Compostela, Cathedral |
and to Italy, where the influence of the still existing classical style, plus the ethereal style of the nearby Byzantine Empire, resulted in such beautiful works as the Bible of Pope Clement VII.
Nearly all the images include Mary independently, in the level just below that of Jesus or she is shown holding the Infant Jesus. However, there are some variations.
Images from the 14th century on begin to focus on Mary herself. She is shown at the center of the composition as the true, direct offshoot of Jesse himself.
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| Bible of Clement VII Italian (Bologna), ca. 1267 Paris, Bibliotheque Nationale de France MS Latin 22, fol. 346 |
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| Bible of Clement VII, Jesse Tree detail view |
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| Bible Northern French, 1229 New York, Morgan Library MS M 163, fol. 326r |
Nearly all the images include Mary independently, in the level just below that of Jesus or she is shown holding the Infant Jesus. However, there are some variations.
Images from the 14th century on begin to focus on Mary herself. She is shown at the center of the composition as the true, direct offshoot of Jesse himself.
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| Jesse Tree From Bible historiale of Gerard des Moulins French (St. Omer), c 14th Cemtury Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Francais 152, fol. 467v |
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| Jesse Tree From the Heures de Louis de Savoie France (Savoy), c. 1445-1460 Paris, Bibliotheque nationale de France MS Latin 9473, fol. 102 |
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| Master of Cornelis Croesinck, Jesse Tree From the Croesinck Hours Dutch, c. 1489-1499 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum MS M 1078, fol. 112v |
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| Jesse Tree From a Psalter Flemish (Bruges), c. 1500 Paris, Irish Cultural Center MS E.1, fol . 42 |
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| Jesse Tree From a Psalter German (Augsburg), c. 1230-1255 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum MS M 280, fol. 2r This image is unusual in that, instead of ancestors of Christ sitting on the boughs of the Tree, it is incidents from the New Testament depicting the Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation and Baptism of Jesus that appear. |
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| Master of the Old Prayer Book of Maximilian I, The Annunciation surrounded by a Jesse Tree From the Breviary of Eleanor of Portugal Flemish, 1495-1515 New York, Morgan Library MS M 52, fol. 388v |
Finally, one image combines many themes. In similar fashion to the Breviary of Eleanor of Portugal, it combines the image of the Annunciation with the Tree of Jesse. But, it also includes an image of Adam and Eve, also ancestors of Jesus, as they are of all humans, just above the figures of Gabriel and Mary. Not only are they part of the ancestry of Jesus, they are also the means through which sin and death entered the world. It is their Fall that was healed by Christ, beginning at the Annunciation.
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| Hours of the Virgin French (Rouen), c. 1495-1505 New York, Pierpont Morgan Library and Museum MS M 174, fol. 21r |
The image of the Jesse Tree continued into the Renaissance period, although it waned in popularity. This may be due to the impact of the Reformation on European art. Such images, giving visual form to abstract ideas, were frowned on by the Protestant reformers. many such images, which had served for centuries as a means of instructing the common people about some of the tenets of the Christian faith, were seen by them as idolatrous images, not visual aids to understanding. many such images were destroyed all over Europe where Protestantism became established. Some of this thinking eventually transferred to Catholic authorities, especially with the efforts to implement the decrees of the reforming Council of Trent, which also swept away some older ways of approaching the faith, without destroying the works already in existence. Consequently, the concept of the Jesse Tree seems to have faded away, to be revived in the modern era.
A rather wonderful, small, late Jesse Tree image, possibly by the painter Girolamo Genga, lives at the National Gallery in London. In it, each of the ancestors of Christ is depicted as a fully developed individual personality.
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| *Possibly Girolamo Genga, Tree of Jesse Italian, c. 1535 London, National Gallery |
Like most of the images in this essay it is a work of miniature painting on parchment. However, it is not certain whether it was originally part of a book or if it was an independent miniature painting. Whichever way it was planned, it is truly a small wonder, feeling as monumental as an image from the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
© M. Duffy, 2011. New material added 2024.
* Indicates new image
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