The previous reredos, which dated from the late 15 th century, was dismantled, and some elements of it were certainly reused elsewhere. In 1703, a stylish Baroque reredos (the decorated “backdrop” commonly seen behind the high altar) was installed in the Saint Anne chapel of Saint Lawrence Church in Ebern (Bavaria). © Heritage Images / Fine Art Images / akg-images. However, the king at his left reverently presents to him the attributes that will belong to the Salvator Mundi : the globe that symbolizes creation, and over it the cross that signifies the price of its redemption. And yet, impatient to be about the business of his Father who is in heaven and to do his will, he turns toward the king at his right, so as to take from his hands the scroll ( sefer) of the Torah-here the Law and the Prophets-which he is called to fulfill. In this sense, the last Sunday of the liturgical year celebrates Christ as King of the universe.Ĭome, then, let us adore this Child, the naked King, stripped of all human power. They prefigure also the twelve apostles who would lead the Church throughout its long pilgrimage on earth.Īnd so, just as Jesse the shepherd at the root of the tree testifies that the Child of the Virgin Mary is indeed the Good Shepherd prophesied by Isaiah, the twelve kings who sprang from its sap testify that the Child Jesus, in a way surpassing all hope, would embody and accomplish the vocation of the Israelite royalty by extending it to all the nations, to the whole universe, and as far as God’s right hand. Here the twelve kings stand for all who led Israel-priests, prophets, and kings-until the fullness of time. Later it would be the conventional number of the elect in the Book of Revelation (12 x 12 = 144 x 1,000, which signifies the multitude = 144,000). It is the number of the chosen people, made up of twelve tribes. The number twelve is purely conventional: it is the sublime number par excellence, because the number itself and the sum of its factors are both perfect numbers. So it is with the 16 th-century miniature that illuminates the cover of this issue of Magnificat: the tree that springs from the root of Jesse does not lead genealogically to the Infant Jesus through Joseph, a descendant of David- the husband of Mary-as Saint Matthew reports, but rather, by playing on the Latin words virga (twig) and Virgo (Virgin), this image shows us that the shoot of Jesse blossoms at the very top with the promised flower, Mary, who gives to world her fruit, Jesus.īefore the Virgin with the Child, twelve kings of Israel have bloomed on the shoot of Jesse, in the first place David, although he cannot be recognized here by his traditional attribute, the lyre. With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.Īnd you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, In that day the root of Jesse shall standīehold, God is my salvation I will trust,įor the Lord God is my strength and my song, Be that as it may, the Jesse tree essentially remains a message that shows the fulfillment of the Scriptures, according to the prophet Isaiah (Is 11:1-2a, 10 12:2-4):įrom the stump of Jesse ,Īnd a branch shall grow out of his roots.Īnd the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. Contrary to appearances, this is not a genealogical tree of Jesus, even though artists were inspired to some extent by the genealogy that opens the Gospel according to Saint Matthew eventually the Jesse tree lost its initial purpose and often served as a frontispiece for manuscripts of the first Gospel, and therefore of Gospel Books. It was then picked up in stained glass windows and even in sculpture. The Jesse tree is a symbolic figure that appeared in the late 11 th century in manuscripts illustrated with miniatures.
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