The Tree of Jesse

The prophecy of Isaiah states the following:

And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse: and a flower shall rise up out of his root. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. . . In that day, the root of Jesse, will be displayed before all as an ensign.

The image of the rod or shoot springing from the stem is intended to express the idea of the Messiah, who would come from the royal house of David. The prophecy presumes a knowledge of the story of how David was anointed miraculously by Samuel, as told in I Samuel 16. Just as a king had come in the form of Davi

. . .
eas of the family tree and the motifs of the genealogy illustration. Christ is here surrounded by the seven doves and placed at the top of the tree, while certain members of the race are interposed between him and Jesse. prophets on either side of the stem represent Christ's spiritual forefathers and are usually portrayed with greater vivacity of movement than the royal ancestors. They also face the center. The motif of the Tree of Jesse is rather abstract, but this was not a deterrent to the artists of the Middle Ages. They found ways that were simple to translate the text of Isaiah to a pictorial representation: With childlike candor, they interpreted the prophet's words literally. In the cathedral they set up a genealogical tree somewhat like those seen above feudal fireplaces, but much more imposing. . . they represented a great tree issuing from the belly of the sleeping Jesse; along the branches they placed the kings of Judah; above the kings they placed the Virgin, and above her, Christ; lastly, for Jesus they made an aureole of seven doves to recall that upon him reposed the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. This was in reality the heraldic tree of Christ: it made his nobility manifest. The version created by Suge
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Tree Jesse, Holy Spirit, Jesse Beginning, Middle Ages, William Thorne, Holy Ghost, Resurrection Christ, Virgin Mary, Saint-BTnigne Dijon, Berthold Missal, tree jesse, seven doves, eleventh century, prophecy isaiah, middle ages, jesse tree, image tree, stem jesse, century princeton princeton, suger artists, artists st-denis, princeton university press, motif tree jesse, religious art france, princeton princeton university,
Approximate Word count = 1832
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)