Prophet, from a Tree of Jesse

Entry

These prophets (for the other prophet, see BK-NM-11395-A) originally belonged to a Tree of Jesse in an Antwerp retable. This genealogical representation is a fairly literal visualization of the prophecy of Isaiah (II-1): ‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots’. Seated on his throne, the slumbering figure of Jesse is surrounded by several prophets (typically four). Growing from his breast is a trunk that splits into various branches. Sitting on each of the branches are the kings of Israel, Christ’s forebears, including King David with his harp. Seated on the highest branch is the enthroned figure of the Virgin with the Christ Child. In the late Middle Ages, emphasis was increasingly placed on the role of the Holy Virgin (virgo) in her son’s redemption work, with descriptions often referring to her as the most beautiful blossom or twig (virga) on Jesse’s family tree.

The Tree of Jesse is a regular theme in Antwerp retables starting from the early sixteenth century on.² Figures of Jesse in Passion altars generally appear in the bottom register of the middle compartment,³ accompanied by prophets. Emerging from his chest is the trunk of the tree, from which the branches rise up via the concave frames that flank the scene of the Crucifixion in the central bay. On Marian retables, however, the slumbering Jesse and the prophets are sometimes located in the central section of the altarpiece.⁴ Preserved in the Rijksmuseum collection is a second pair of prophets originating from another Antwerp retable (BK-NM-2475 and -2477).

Woodcarvers freely indulged their fantasy when it came to depicting the exotic, often Asian-inspired appearance of these prophet figures alongside Jesse, often resulting in grotesque or even humorous exaggerations.⁵ As was customary, their accompanying banderoles bore inscriptions regarding the predictions they made regarding Christ’s and the Virgin’s role in the redemption of mankind. In the case of the present figures, both of which are branded with the Antwerp hand, almost all of the polychromy has been lost, including the inscriptions on the banderoles.

The clothing of these two prophets is a fantastical mixture of Eastern and Western liturgical vestments: a surplice with widely expanding sleeves, worn beneath a cloak and over a kind of alb. The headdress of the left-hand prophet (BK-NM-11395-A) constitutes a mitre wrapped in a turban, of which the ends fall down over the shoulders; the turban of the right-hand prophet (shown here) terminates in a draping cloth adorned with fringe. Figures of prophets attired in comparable raiment and displaying stylistically similar traits can be observed on the Antwerp Passion altarpiece in Zukowo (Poland) that dates from circa 1520-25.⁶

Bieke van der Mark, 2024