Cutting from an Antiphonary: Initial A[spiciens a longe]: The Tree of Jesse (c. 1115–25): Art, History and Details

Cutting from an Antiphonary: Initial A[spiciens a longe]: The Tree of Jesse (c. 1115–25) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This complex initial "A" is formed of meandering plant tendrils, neatly and symmetrically placed at the center of a succession of square frames to which the letter is securely attached above and below. The whole forms a Tree of Jesse showing Christ's ancestors beginning with King David (bottom). The text would have begun, "Long have I been watching...." These are the words of Isaiah, who foresaw the coming of Christ. Isaiah's prophecies are the basis for the representations of the Tree of Jesse, often seen in medieval art.

Object facts

• Title: Cutting from an Antiphonary: Initial A[spiciens a longe]: The Tree of Jesse
• Date: c. 1115–25
• Culture: Germany, Meuse Valley
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and gold on vellum
• Dimensions: Sheet: 18 x 16 cm (7 1/16 x 6 5/16 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1949.202

Collection credit

Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Forrer, Robert. Unedierte Federzeichnungen, Miniaturen und Initialen des Mittelalters Vol. 2. Straßburg im Elsaß: Schlesier & Schweihhardt, 1907.
• Watson, Arthur. The Early Iconography of the Tree of Jesse. London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1934.
• The Brummer Gallery Records. Cloisters (Museum), n.d.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.