Orphrey Band: The Tree of Jesse
England · c. 1350 · Cleveland Museum of Art
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Guide
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From the museum
From the 1100s to the 1300s in London, both men and women worked as professional embroiderers. Here, the Tree of Jesse, a favorite medieval theme illustrating the ancestry of Christ, appears as a grapevine with three ancestors—Achim, Ezechias, and Eliud—seated on tendrils. Painters often provided embroiderers with designs, revealing a close relationship between the professions.
The museum’s own description, in English. Licence: CC0
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Details
- Maker
- England
- Date
- c. 1350
- Medium
- Silk, gold and silver thread, linen; embroidery: split and couching stitches
- Dimensions
- Overall: 85.7 x 18.1 cm (33 3/4 x 7 1/8 in.); Mounted: 109.2 x 28.6 cm (43 x 11 1/4 in.)
- Place of origin
- England
- Held by
- Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · On view · 115 Manuscripts & Textiles
- Credit line
- Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Image: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0
Shown in
- Roots of Divinity: Christ’s Family Tree in Northern European Medieval ArtSep 6, 2026 – Aug 8, 2027
- Art of Embroidery in Late Medieval Europe (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115Dec 19, 2020 – Apr 11, 2021
- Only for Beauty? (Textile Rotation) - Gallery 115Dec 8, 2014 – Dec 7, 2015
- Textiles in Daily Life in the Middle AgesJan 22, 1985 – Mar 17, 1985
- When Angels Bent Near the Earth to Touch Their Harps of Gold: The Christmas StoryDec 1, 1981 – Jan 17, 1982