O Root of Jesse

“Radix Jesse” In art, The Tree of Jesse is a depiction of the Ancestors of Christ (Matt.1.1-25)- a family tree showing descent from Jesse, the father of King David and illustrating the prophecy of Isaiah, “A shoot springs from the stock of Jesse…” (Isaiah 1.11). Among its earliest representations in stained glass are those of Abbot Suger’s Saint Denis, near Paris and of the West Front of Chartres Cathedral (12th Century). A very fine example dated 1533, and a remarkable survival, is to be found in the church of St Dyfnog at Llanrhaeadr in Denbighshire. Probably the finest medieval stained glass window in Wales, its two lowest registers shown here, depict at the bottom, the recumbent Jesse from whom the tree sprouts and, above him, the royal figures of David (with harp), Solomon (with temple) and Rehoboam.