The Tree of Jesse

The Tree of Jesse

The Tree of Jesse is an impactful and imposing representation of Christ’s genealogy and is dated 1200 CE. The narrative on the piece of art begins on the right as Jesse is seen with the family tree rising from the right side. The long green shaft within its center appears to be a representation of a tree even though the artist had labelled it as “Radix Jesse,” which in Latin means “The root of Jesse” (Green, 2018). In its most complete form, the piece of art traces the forty-three generations between Jesus and Jess, which have been abbreviated to include David, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The story behind the piece culminates at the treetop with John the Baptist gesturing at the crowned heads of Jesus and Mary. Across the Tree’s top, we can see seven distinct doves that represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which send rays down the child of Jesus.

The work’s spiritual provenance could be found in the book of Isaiah in the Bible. The book of Isaiah metaphorically describes the Messiah’s descent and has been accepted by Christians as being an accurate reference of Jesus. The numerous figures that have been depicted within Jesus’ lineage have been drawn up from the ones that were listed in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Mathew (Green, 2018). The subject is regularly seen when it comes to Christian art more so during the Medieval period. A lot of images of the Tree of Jesse appeared within the early Church, often casting light on sacred texts. The Tree’s large scale images managed to cement their popularity when it came to educating the churched public on Christ’s earthly origins. The utilization of a tree in portraying such Biblical teachings also served as an inspiration for the use of a tree as a schematic representation of the genealogy of the family (Green, 2018). The art piece forms the only prophecy of the Old Testament to be as literary and frequently illustrated within Christian art.

The traditions associated with the art have lived on in the current form of advent calendars. They have often been used as a form of teaching aid to retell the Bible stories that surrounded Jesus’ birth (Green, 2018). As a form of custom, families often hang an ornament weekly or daily in the course of the season of anticipation in the process, prompting reflections on a relevant spiritual passage on Christ.

Reference

Green, S. L. (2018). Tree of Jesse Iconography in Northern Europe in the Fifteenth and

Sixteenth Centuries. Routledge.