Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index



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  • Title: Tree of Jesse
  • Creator: Geertgen tot Sint-Jans, painter
  • Description: Jesse sleeps within a walled courtyard (the "hortus conclusus" symbolic of Mary's virginity) as a tree grows from his side. It holds the twenty-seven ancestors of Christ mentioned in Matthew 1:6-16 and is topped with the Virgin and Child. On the lowest branch is King David, playing his harp. Solomon is on the next branch, followed by his grandon King Abia, who lifts his father Roboam up onto a branch. On the same branch as Roboam is Abia's son Asa. Also in this row are Ozias (holding the book on his lap), Josaphat (with the hawk on his hand), Joram and Joatham. On the highest branch with the Virgin and Child, from left to right, are Achaz, Ezechias and Manasses. In the left foreground is a kneeling nun in a white habit. Scholars posit that she belonged to the Haarlem Convent of St Mary Magdalen, also known as the Whiteladies Convent, or possibly the Convent of the Poor Clares in Amsterdam. This figure had been painted over and was discovered only in a 1932 restoration. She wears a rosary around her arm. The man behind the nun is dressed similarly to the figures in the tree but also wears a pilgrim's scrip and leans on a staff. This may be Abraham, who St. Paul describes as a wandering pilgrim (Hebrews 11:9-10). On the right a man in an ermine-lined cloak, perhaps the rector of the convent to which the nun belonged, looks up from a book, which may be opened to the Book of Isaiah, which contains the text understood as a prophecy of Christ's birth by the Virgin (11:1-3).
  • Source: Wikimedia Commons
  • Rights: Public domain
  • Subject (See Also): Books Donor Portraits Genealogy Nuns Tree of Jesse, Artistic Topos
  • Geographic Area: Low Countries
  • Century: 16
  • Date: ca. 1500 (restored 1932)
  • Related Work:
  • Current Location: Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, SK-A-3901
  • Original Location:
  • Artistic Type (Category): Digital images; Paintings
  • Artistic Type (Material/Technique): Wood; Oil
  • Donor:
  • Height/Width/Length(cm): 60.6 cm/89.8 cm/
  • Inscription:
  • Related Resources: