Root Jesse
The root of Jesse (also Jesse tree ) is a common motif in Christian iconography , especially in the Middle Ages. It depicts the descent of Jesus from the house of King David as the tree of life, starting from Jesse , the father of David, the king of Judah and Israel .
Naming
The root of Jesse goes back to a passage from the book of Isaiah in which this first prophet of Israel promises a future Messiah as a just judge and savior of the poor; this will grow as a sprout from the stump of Jesse ( Isa 11 : 1-10 EU ). He will bring God's judgment, but also an end-time turning point towards universal peace, justice and salvation.
presentation
The family tree of Jesus is shown in the form of a real tree that grows out of the figure of Jesse , the father of King David. Jesse is usually shown lying down and sleeping. The following branches appear as David and other kings of Israel and Judah . The conclusion and coronation of the tree is a grand representation of Mary with the baby Jesus .
History of origin
After a few examples in the 11th century, there was a first heyday in the 12th and 13th centuries, followed by a second in the period from around 1460 to 1530 after only a few examples in the 14th century. In these heyday there was a rich number of representations in all areas of the visual arts (painting, illumination, sculpture). The representations in the Middle Ages are mainly to be found in periods when eschatological ideas about the end of time were widespread.
interpretation
The Jesse Tree is still mainly a motive to illustrate the history of salvation . It says: The Son of David - a messianic title with which Jesus is often addressed in the Gospels - takes the believing observer into the family tree of God's people; the present history of faith is its unbroken continuation.
Furthermore, the root Jesse could be seen as a symbol of a royal descent of Jesus Christ , the Christ as ruler in heaven and on earth. His ancestry can be traced back to the people of God Israel and he is the only possible candidate for the dignity of the Messiah, the Savior who came and will come again as King. Thus, from the perspective of the Middle Ages, the motif can be combined with the messianic notions of an imminent return , popular in popular belief in Europe from the 12th century and again in the 15th century .
Jewish art
Jewish art, like Christian art, modeled one of the most important and popular symbols of high medieval iconography in the illustration of the Book of Esther . One of the best-known examples is the illustration of the liturgy of the Purim festival in the Worms Machsor , which is now in the National Library of Israel . It shows the hanging of the Persian courtier Haman and his sons as a punishment for the persecution they instigated, which was averted at the last moment by the Jew Mordechai and his daughter Ester: Haman, prototype of the anti-Jewish persecutor, and his sons hang on a stylized one Tree whose branches form round medallions. The hanged evildoers of the Persian court take the place of the Old Testament kings and ancestors of Jesus in the medallions. The Hebrew word ets (Hebrew עץ tree) in the book of Esther leaves open whether it is a tree or a gallows (Est 8,7). The reversal of the symbol into a clearly polemical picture of the prototypical situation of persecution must have taken place against the background of an acute experience or threat of persecution. While Christian iconography sees a gallows here, almost all Jewish versions show a tree that also resembles the Christian Jesse tree or appears as a tree of life . Conversely, the image of the Jesse tree and the cross tree had an anti-Jewish potential in Christian art. The Jesse tree in combination with depictions of the crucifixion then sometimes appeared in the company of the personifications of the synagogues and the Ecclesia , a particularly common subject in anti-Jewish polemics. The image of the infamous "living tree" grows out of the cross tree - a subject that developed in the 14th and 15th centuries. From it grows the hand of God, which stabs the synagogue, which is particularly defamatory, with a sword and thus clearly calls for the bloody persecution of the Jews.
Examples
Ceiling painting in St. Michael , Hildesheim
Sculpture at St. Lamberti , Münster
Wall painting in Limburg Cathedral
Stained glass window from 1497 in St. Jakob , Nuremberg
Oldest representation on glass (around 1150) in Chartres Cathedral
Hymns
The root of Jesse and the rice that arises from it (medieval ros) can also be found as a motif in some hymns :
- It is a rose , a Christmas carol from the 16th century
- How beautifully the morning star shines , chorale text by Philipp Nicolai , 1599
- Maria went through a thorn forest , pilgrimage and Advent song, 1850
See also
literature
- Otto Böcher : On the younger iconography of the root Jesse. In: Mainz magazine . Vol. 67/68, 1972/1973, pp. 153-168.
- Ursmar Engelmann : Root Jesse. Illumination of the early 13th century. Beuroner Kunstverlag, Beuron 1961.
- Gertrud Schiller : Iconography of Christian Art. Volume 1: Incarnation, childhood, baptism, temptation, transfiguration, work and miracles of Christ. Mohn, Gütersloh 1966.
