It has
recently come to light that in one of
Whilst many
representations of the Jesse Tree have been made ever since the 11th
century, from illuminated manuscripts to painted walls and ceilings, wood,
stone, floor tiles, embroidery and especially stained glass windows in
churches, the only known Jesse plaster ceiling in
An inscription on the ceiling and just below the design states the following:-
“Very Rare
ELIZABETHIAN CEILING
In a House in the old Butterwalk
Erected 1635”
The Tree of Jesse is a well-known religious symbol showing the genealogy of Christ arising from Jesse the father of David. It is based on the prophecy in the book of Isaiah Chapter 11, which reads in the Authorised Version:-
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him … And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall be glorious.”
Chapter 1 of St.Matthew’s Gospel begins as follows:-
(v.1) “The book of the generations of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham….
(v.6) And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon … (then follows a long list of descendants)…
(v.16) And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom
was born Jesus who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to
David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into
In St.Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 3 a rather different genealogy is given, going back from Jesus to Jesse and to Abraham, and then to Adam ! However the Jesse Trees in stained glass windows and elsewhere generally follow the St.Matthew genealogy which includes many kings, starting with David and Solomon. Many of them also include figures of prophets such as Isaiah, Daniel and Ezekiel. In all cases the figures of Jesse’s descendants are linked by a flourishing vine.
The design
of the Butterwalk ceiling starts with Jesse (with his name shown) lying down,
with the vine rising from his body. Below him appears to be a skull, possibly
representing his ancestors. On the first three levels of figures are 12 kings
(wearing crowns) separated by vine leaf symbols. Above these are 16 more
figures of patriarchs (there were no kings after the capture of
St.Matthew with a winged man (or the ‘Divine Man’),
St.Mark with a winged lion,
St.Luke with a winged ox,
Similar symbols can be seen with the four Saints around the High Altar in St. Saviour’s church.
(photograph taken before 1943 war damage, by
courtesy of
Unfortunately two figures, one of a king and one of a patriarch are now missing, as a result of the bomb damage to the Butterwalk in 1943. The ceiling was restored along with the building after the war, and apart from this is in remarkably good condition. This is quite amazing considering the damage done to other religious figures and ornaments (including Jesse trees) caused during the Civil War and the Commonwealth period (1642-1660) and by later war damage and neglect. This is no doubt because the Jesse ceiling was inside a private house and not easily seen.
It seems
probable that the ceiling was an Elizabethan design, erected by Italian
plasterers when the Butterwalk was built during the reign of Charles I in 1635.
This was when Mark Hawkings acquired the lease of the Butterwalk and then completed
the building. There is more ornamental plasterwork at the other end of the
Butterwalk, including a ceiling in the Museum and an overmantel depicting a
Pentecost scene with figures of Moses and David in the ‘Sloping Deck’
restaurant. A very similar overmantel was taken with
other plasterwork from a house in
The Jesse
ceiling can be viewed by arrangement with the
The Virgin and child, Jesse ceiling Part of the ceiling showing missing figures
(Photographs
by courtesy of
Eric Preston.