“as we travel the nave from west to east we are traveling through salvation history”
The Gothic writ large
In studying the Gothic style, with the aim of restoring it as a living tradition, we are sometimes faced with the challenge of finding liturgical examples. Byzantine iconography is relatively easy to find and its revival has contributed many examples, ancient and modern to learn from.
Later Gothic, often referred to as the “International Style” from the late 14th to the early 15th century, is also well preserved and represented across Europe.
But quality examples of the High Gothic of the 12th and 13th centuries is a little harder to come by. We have plenty of manuscripts, psalters, breviaries and so on, but how did this style translate to a full-fledged liturgical art style that adorned the House of God.
Small parish churches in England are providing a wealth of examples as Reformation era plaster is removed to uncover beautiful dynamic wall paintings in the “St. Albans School” style. The catalog of images and examples for the contemporary artist continues to grow.
One of the best preserved examples, however, is not in England but in Germany. St. Michael’s Church in Hildesheim is an early Romanesque church. It was completed in the late 12th century. The central nave features a ceiling made up of 1300 oak planks and sometime around the year 1230, the ceiling was painted with a monumental representation of the tree of Jesse, showing the lineage of Christ.
In 1650 the eastern tower of the church collapsed and destroyed the extreme eastern section of the ceiling which would have shown Christ. The ceiling was restored and painted to match the style of the rest of the work.
During World War II the ceiling was dismantled and hidden away. The church itself was destroyed in air raid in 1945 and was rebuilt between 1950-1960. At the time the ceiling was cleaned and returned to the nave.
The painting is so well preserved you might think it has undergone a major restoration but in truth, apart from the eastern panel, the only work that has been done was to scrub away eight centuries of grime. The majority of the ceiling is original to the 13th century.
The Tree of Jesse
The ceiling is divided into eight main panels and follows the genealogy of Christ as recorded in the Gospel of Luke, 3:23-38. At the Western end is the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. It is flanked by representations of the evangelists Saint Mark and Saint Luke as well as personifications of the four rivers flowing from paradise.
Traveling eastward we next come to the sleeping figure of Jesse, the father of King David. From the side of Jesse a tree sprouts, its branches swirl and entwine their way throughout the rest of the ceiling, encompassing the earthly ancestors of Jesus.
The next four panels feature kings of Israel. David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and Josiah are painted in separate panels and each is surrounded by four lesser kings.
The seventh panel is reserved for Mary, surrounded by allegories of the four cardinal virtues, Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance, and Justice. Mary holds a spindle of thread, referring to a tradition that she was one of seven temple virgins who wove the veil of the temple. This aspect of the Blessed Virgin is also common in the iconographic prototype and is frequently present in icons of the Annunciation.
The eighth frame is the eastern edge of the ceiling. It is part of ceiling that was restored after the collapse of the tower and shows Christ enthroned as the Just Judge.
Symbolically as we travel the nave from west to east we are traveling through salvation history to arrive at Christ, the Sun of Justice who rises from the east to establish a new covenant with the people of God. He is accompanied by the archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. When this portion of the ceiling was restored in 1650 the church would have been occupied by the followers of Martin Luther which may account for the inclusion of the un-biblical addition of Uriel. The evangelists Saint Matthew and Saint John also hold places surrounding Our Lord.
Surrounding these eight main panels is a decorative border with the images of other figures from scripture. Each is identified either by name or a phrase associated with them. For example Mary is flanked by images of the angel of the Annunciation, Isaiah, John the Baptist, and a figure that has not been positively identified but is most likely Aaron or Zacharias.
In the four corners of the work overall are the symbols of the four evangelists, the man for Saint Matthew, the eagle of Saint John, the bull of Saint Luke and the lion of Saint Mark.
The Book of Isaiah tells us “And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root.” Isaiah 11:1. This is the basis of the iconography of the Tree of Jesse. According to the 12th century monk Hervaeus as documented by art historian Émile Mâle, “The patriarch Jesse belonged to the royal family, that is why the root of Jesse signifies the lineage of kings. As to the rod, it symbolizes Mary as the flower symbolizes Jesus Christ.”
The Tree of Jesse was a common theme in churches and manuscripts as a visual proof that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah. It has been rendered in paint, tile, mosaics, and stained glass windows. This beautiful example dating to about A.D. 1230 should serve as a point of inspiration for the modern artist seeking to build on the Gothic style.
Pax vobiscum
A larger resolution image of the ceiling may be found on Wikimedia:
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