Madonna of the Dry Tree
Madonna of the Dry Tree or Our Lady of the Barren Tree are names given to a small x oil-on-oak panel painting dated c. 1462–1465 by the Early Netherlandish painter Petrus Christus. Unusually dark and dramatic for the mid-15 century, it shows the Virgin Mary and the Christ Child, who holds an orb crowned with a cross, standing on a disembodied dead tree trunk, surrounded by withered branches that encircle them to form a crown of thorns. It was unattributed and largely unknown until 1919, when it was examined by the art historian  Grete Ring while in a private collection. She first attributed Christus and through analysis of its iconography, assigned its current title. Because of its late discovery, its commission and meaning is relatively understudied by art historians. The panel's size indicates it was intended for private meditation and devotion. Its stark and haunting imagery is thought to be derived from the Book of Ezekiel, with the Dry Tree (or "solitary tree") representing a withered and dead version of the Garden of Eden's Tree of Knowledge, brought back to life by presence of the Virgin and Christ. The 15 golden  As hanging from its branches may represent the first letter of the Angelic Salutation, the Ave Maria. The painting may further draw from the beliefs of elite "Confraternity of Our Lady of the Dry Tree" of Bruges, which Christus and his wife Gaudicine joined so as to integrate themselves into the city's upper realms of society, having moved to the city. Description. Mary is shown standing in a fork of the barren tree, the Christ child held in her arms, surrounded by thin and spiky branches that stretch around her in an oval arch. She is dressed in a  green-lined red robe, its folds painted in sharp, sculptural lines. The robe is otherwise plain and unadorned, and closely resembles the dress in Christus's 1444 "Exeter Madonna", leading to speculation that the painting was completed earlier than the usually assumed 1462–1465. Unusually for a contemporary depiction of the Madonna, her face is individualised; her features are not soft nor rounded as with idealised models, and her expression less presupposing than earlier Madonnas or secular female portraits. The art historian Joel Upton describes Christus's depiction as of "a warm and human figure, very attractive, and yet serene and  demure as the Mother of God." The representation of Christ is probably derived from Rogier van der Weyden, especially in the playfulness and amiability of his facial expression, although given that Christus might not have had access to the older master's work, the influence may be second-hand, probably through the paintings of Hans Memling. The panel is highly illustionistic, in a manner equal to van der Weyden's c. 1435-38 "Durán Madonna" which places Mary in a shallow and sculptural niche. Like the earlier work, Christus's figures are similarly larger than scale and cramped within an  undefined space. The figures are brightly lit compared to the black background. Christus employs trompe-l'œil techniques in a number of passages, creating a three-dimensional effect that adds to the strangeness and disembodied atmosphere. These can be most notably seen in the Virgin's hand as it lies below the child's toes, in the orb held in his hands, and in the golden letters hanging from the tree briars. X-radiography reveals that there was little preparatory underdrawing outside of a series of ruled lines used to situate the elements within the overall design. The art historian Maryan  Ainsworth notes that this is typical of Christus's smaller panels, some which – including this work – could be considered miniatures, and compares it to the techniques used in contemporary illuminated manuscripts. Our Lady of the Dry Tree. In 1919, the art historian Grete Ring connected the painting's iconography to the prestigious Bruges confraternity of "Our Lady of the Dry Tree". Its foundation was incorrectly attributed in the 19th century to Phillip the Good, who according to legend, prayed to an image of the Virgin carved on a tree during a battle against the French. Following victory he is said  to have established or the confraternity, although it is documented as extant as early as 1396. The tradition of such Marian images, either suspended (hung) from or carved on trees, originated from both pagan and Christian worship as early as the fifth century. Such trees were commonly found in crossroads, functioning as landscape markers. "Our Lady of the Oak" and "Our Lady of the Cherry" are others in the same tradition. The confraternity's seal, visible on extant ledgers, shows a thorny dry tree with dangling As. The confraternity met in a private chapel in the Franciscans Church of the  Minorites (Minoritenkirche ) which was destroyed during the Netherlandish Reformation in 1578. The organization was restricted to members of the upper echelon of Burgundian society; including Philip the Good's wife Isabella of Portugal, most of the leading Burgundian nobles, and upper-class families and foreign traders of Bruges, such as the Portinaris. Christus and his wife Guadicine were members by 1462–63. Petrus joined the faternity for the same reason Gerard David would some years later: to establish himself in Bruges society and attract wealthy patrons. A 1469 contract Christus cosigned, stipulating rules governing the confraternity's use of the chapel  in the Franciscan church in which it was located – governing remunerations, donations, and income – indicates he may have assumed an administrative role for the organization, as well as being a board member. Other cosigners included Giovanni Arnolfini (portrayed by van Eyck) and fellow board member Tommaso Portinari (portrayed by Hans Memling. Although the iconography is clearly associated with the confraternity, it is not known whether Christus received a commission from an individual from the organization or an individual member. The confraternity's inventory of 1495 does not list a painting of the Dry Tree. The reduced size of Christus's  painting suggests it may have been commissioned as a personal devotional piece. Iconography. The work's dramatic iconography was described by Ainsworth as unprecedented in Netherlandish painting. The painting seems to be a stark representation of the "Tree of Knowledge", which is shown wilted and thorny. Art historians believe the tree acts as a metaphor for original sin, and will not return to life until redeemed by the coming of Christ. The source for the iconography is the Ezekiel 17:24: "...and all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, have  exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish". The dead Tree of Knowledge was brought to life again upon receiving a green graft from the Tree of Life, wrote medieval philosopher Guillaume de Deguileville in his "Le Pèlerinage de l'Âme" ("The Pilgrimage of the Soul"), metaphorically reflecting the birth of the Virgin to a barren mother. Ainsworth describes the panel as an "almost a literal translation of de Deguileville's text". In her view, Mary represents "the graft of life", and the Christ child "the fruit of this growth and  Savior of Mankind". The orb and cross in his hands and the spiny thorns fashioned into a surrounding crown indicate his role as Savior, while the dry tree itself may be a representation of both the Fall of Man and Redemption. The 15 golden letter "A"'s hanging from the branches are generally seen as abbreviations for "Ave", or "Ave Maria". Their number may be an allusion to the 150 "Hail Marys" recited in the contemporary rosary (i.e. 15 x 10 decades), although this form of devotion did not become popular until 1475, some ten years after Christus' panel. Two  other interpretations for the "A"'s have been put forth. One is that they symbolize arbor or "arbore", as other similar devotional works show the trees in an arbor. Hugo van der Velden suggests the possibility that the piece might have been commissioned by a member of the confraternity, Anselme Adornes (d. 1464), whose interest in devotional work is evidenced by his possession of van Eyck's "Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata". Provenance. The painting was in the Ernst Oppler collection in Berlin before 1919. That year Ring published the first analysis of the painting, and attributed Christus, in her  article "Onse Lieve Vrauwe ten Drooghen Boome" for the "Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst". It passed to the collection of Fritz Thyssen in Mülheim, before it was acquired by the Swiss billionaire Hans Heinrich Von Thyssen for the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, in 1965. The painting was exhibited at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. in October 1981 as part of a loan of 57 paintings from the Thyssen‐Bornemisza. Influence. The panel influenced Pieter Claeissens the Younger 1620 triptych "Our Lady of the Dry Tree", which may have drawn from the same sources. Madonna of the Dry Tree Madonna