‘And a Branch shall grow out of his roots’:

Rosary and Marian Devotion as Context for The Tree of Jesse

Abstract

The Tree of Jesse in the Rijksmuseum is a panel painting from circa 1500, attributed to (the circle of) Geertgen tot Sint Jans. Numerous studies have already been devoted to this panel, the majority of which centred on the question of its attribution. The present study’s endeavour, however, is to determine the panel’s function and the origin of the unique combination of the iconography of the Tree of Jesse with elements of the Rosary devotion. Consultation made clear this composite iconography cannot be traced to contemporary (para)liturgical and devotional sources, not even those concerning this Marian devotion. The Tree of Jesse iconography was by no means an obvious choice to visually express the Rosary theme, as is the case with the Rijksmuseum panel. In acknowledgement of the virtually exclusive occurrence of this iconography in breviaries and books of hours originating from the Low Countries (including the only other example of Jesse in an enclosed garden in a Lowland breviary), it is posited that the combined iconography arises from the practice of the Hours of the Virgin, and the breviaries and books of hours used for that purpose. Based on a unique visual correspondence to a Haarlem gradual and the Van Schoten triptych (consulted in drawings) combined with historical context, the man on the right of the panel can tenably be identified as Master Willem van Schoten. This would explain the figure’s unconventional attire and the distinctive background architecture; it also allows a possible identification of the young religious woman. Most importantly, it provides an argument for situating the panel in the church of the St John’s convent in Haarlem, linking it to the institution’s inventories.