Susan L. Green - Tree of Jesse Iconography in Northern Europe in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

Routledge Research in Art and Religion is a new series focusing on religion and spirituality as examined by scholars working in the fields of art history and visual studies. Proposals for monographs and edited collections on this topic are welcomed.

Tradition and Transformation in Christian Art

The Transcultural Icon

C.A. Tsakiridou

Tree of Jesse Iconography in Northern Europe in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries

Susan L. Green

This book would not have been possible without the support of a number of people, who are too numerous to mention. I am, however, particularly indebted to several curators and conservators, who have been both generous with their time and allowed me unlimited access to a number of works, some of which were not on display. I should like to mention, especially, Vronique Bcken at the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium in Brussels, Veronique Vandekerchove () at the M van Museum Leuven, and Christiane Haeseler at the Landesamt fr Denkmalpflege in Wiesbaden. Others, who helped with specific works, are mentioned in my endnotes.

I would also like to offer my thanks to Lorne Campbell, who provided much needed direction at a crucial stage of my research. The following also gave key advice at different times, for which I am most grateful: Barbara Baert, Alixe Bovey, Joanna Cannon, Geert Claasens, John Lowden, Paula Nuttall, Jan van der Stock and Kim Woods. In addition, I am obliged to Richard Copsey O. Carm, Sverine Lepape and Elspeth de Weerth for their generosity in sharing their unpublished research with me. My most sincere gratitude must also go to Susie Nash, who has been particularly important at every stage of this project, from its conception in 2007. Without her expert knowledge and guidance, this book would never have been written.

Finally, I was given a great deal of assistance along the way by members of the clergy, archivists, librarians, friends and family. I would particularly like to thank Liz McDougall, Jeroen Bos and Fred Satow for their help with translation problems, and Sophie Foden-Pattinson for her help in organising my images. Camilla Geffen was also extremely helpful in reading and commenting on drafts of chapters. My greatest thanks, however, must go to my parents, Brenda and Tony Humpage, for their constant encouragement, and to my husband, Richard, who patiently read several drafts of this manuscript and who was always enthusiastic about yet another Tree of Jesse hunt. It is to him, and my long-suffering daughters, Emily and Georgina, that this book is dedicated.

English Translation by Albert Labriola and John Smeltz of Chapter Four of the Speculum humanae salvationis Blockbook (British Library shelfmark G. 11784)

Reprinted with the permission of Duquesne University Press, Pittsburgh, PA, USA and James Clarke and Co, Cambridge, UK

Albrecht, Uwe ed. Corpus der Mittelalterlichen Holzskulptur und Tafelmalerie in Schleswig-Holstein, Band 1, Hansestadt Lubeck, Sankt Annen-Museum . Kiel: Ludwig, 2005.