The Tree of Jesse in the Wormser Dom.
The relief of the Tree of Jesse in the Cathedral of St. Peter (Wormser Dom) presents the genealogy of the Holy Family with remarkable depth and grace.
At the base lies Jesse of Bethlehem, father of King David, from whose side a small tree trunk emerges. From this trunk rises a tangled yet elegant vine, filling the pointed Gothic arch with twisting branches and leaf-like crockets.
Along these branches sit or stand a succession of royal and prophetic ancestors of Christ, each set within the foliage:
King David, often depicted with a harp
King Solomon, wearing a crown and holding a scepter or book
Other kings of Judah such as Hezekiah, Josiah, or Zedekiah, marked by regal insignia
The prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, holding scrolls with messianic prophecies
Figures sometimes identified as the Virgin’s parents, Joachim and Anne, or other key ancestors named in the Gospel genealogies
High above them all, at the tree’s flowering crown, sits the Virgin Mary enthroned with the Christ Child, the final and perfect bloom of Jesse’s lineage.
Flanking the arch are additional full-length figures:
Evangelists or apostles, recognizable by their books or scrolls
A bishop or abbot in mitre and vestments, possibly representing a donor or the ecclesiastical authority who commissioned the work
This exuberant Gothic carving is far more than decoration. It transforms Isaiah 11:1—“A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse”—into a vivid three-dimensional family tree. Its carefully portrayed kings, prophets, and evangelists link the Old Testament to the New, proclaiming Christ as both heir of David and fulfillment of ancient prophecy.
