Short description:

This book is the first detailed investigation of the late medieval use of the Tree of Jesse, the genealogical tree of Christ depicted on many objects across different media, created in Northern Europe in the mid-fifteenth to early sixteenth centuries.

Long description:

This book is the first detailed investigation to focus on the late medieval use of Tree of Jesse imagery, traditionally a representation of the genealogical tree of Christ. In northern Europe, from the mid-fifteenth to the early sixteenth centuries, it could be found across a wide range of media. Yet, as this book vividly illustrates, it had evolved beyond a simple genealogy into something more complex, which could be modified to satisfy specific religious requirements. It was also able to function on a more temporal level, reflecting not only a clerical preoccupation with a sense of communal identity, but a more general interest in displaying a family?s heritage, continuity and/or social status. It is this dynamic and polyvalent element that makes the subject so fascinating.

"...Very successful ... the book materialises as a generously illustrated, well-researched monograph with a solid and varied bibliography and five useful and informative appendices."

--Nordic Review of Iconography

"...Her book is praiseworthy for closely examining iconographical motifs and recognize their interpretive flexibility, depending on context. Green?s case studies thoughtfully consider how Tree of Jesse imagery functions within each particular cultural setting."

--Historians of Netherlandish Art

"Green's is undoubtedly an important contribution to the study of the Tree of Jesse in medieval visual culture, which will be of interest to any reader interested in the religiosity of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries."

--Eikón Imago

Table of Contents:

Introduction, Chapter One The Tree of Jesse and the Speculum Humanae Salvationis, Chapter Two The Tree of Jesse and Saint Anne, Chapter Three The Tree of Jesse, the Carmelites, and other Religious Orders, Chapter Four The Tree of Jesse and the Schöllenbach Altarpiece: A Case Study, Chapter Five The Tree of Jesse and Antwerp Carved Altarpieces, Chapters Six The Tree of Jesse in Northern France, Conclusion, Appendices, Bibliography