ENGLISH, FIRST HALF 14TH CENTURY

This stained glass panel of a prophet's head was almost certainly originally part of an early fourteenth century Jesse Tree window at the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady, Madley, Herefordshire. Although the window was dismantled long ago, perhaps during the church's restoration around 1840, some fragments remain, reassembled in the East window. These include two figures of Kings, and one prophet, named as Ezekiel. This latter in particular bears a striking resemblance to the present example, being of the same scale and showing strong similarities in the facial type, the depiction of the beard, the style of costume, and even in the pattern of the braiding that trims each prophet's robes. Each figure is also surrounded by distinctive vine leaves, reinforcing their original context within the Tree of Jesse, a popular subject of stained glass windows from the twelfth century onwards. The iconography of this scene was derived from a passage in the Book of Isaiah, which describes the Messiah metaphorically growing as 'a rod out of the root of Jesse.' It is most commonly depicted as a tree or vine growing out of the prostrate body of Jesse, supporting the ancestors of Christ and often the prophets who foretold His coming.