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This little panel, which comes from a Belgian collection where it was to be found at the beginning of the twentieth century, was attributed to Petrus Christus by Grete Ring in 1919. It represents an innovative subject within the artist's oeuvre. Its iconography would be reused by other artists with variations: on seals, such as that now in the Municipal Archive in Bruges; on medals, such as that in the Royal Library of Albert I in Brussels; and in paintings, such as the central panel of the triptych on the same subject by Pieter Claessen (1620).
The subject is directly related to the Confraternity of Our Lady of the Dry Tree, to which Christus and his wife belonged. This confraternity, which is already mentioned in a document of 1396, had a chapel in the Franciscan church of the Minorite Brothers in Bruges, which was destroyed in 1578 during the religious wars. Among its most notable members were the Dukes of Burgundy, who were members of honour, and other representatives of the highest political and social circles in Bruges. However, according to an account current during the seventeenth century, but one which seems to have little basis in fact, the confraternity was founded by Philip the Good. According to this legend, the Virgin and Child appeared to Philip on the trunk of a dry tree before a battle with the French. Philip prayed for victory in front of the image which was granted to him. The confraternity was therefore set up as an act of thanks and commemoration of that victory.
In this tiny oil painting the artist, perhaps on the instructions of the patron, represented the message of the Redemption in a symbolic manner within the iconography of the Virgin and Child. For the iconographic interpretation of the Virgin in this painting the source is the Book of Ezekiel (17,24). The words of the prophet, "I the Lord ... have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish" have been interpreted as a clear allusion to Original Sin and to the role of Mary as the New Eve. The dry tree is identified with the tree of Knowledge which withered after the Original Sin and which would flower again with the conception of Christ. Another source which has been mentioned with regard to the interpretation of the subject is a text by Guillaume de Deguileville of 1330 in which the same idea is expressed metaphorically.
This message is reinforced in the representation of Christ who holds a crowned globe in one of His hands with a cross in a clear reference to His role as Man's Redeemer. In addition, the dry branches of the trees, bent round and interlaced, form a crown which is a clear reference to His Passion. From the dry branches hang fifteen gilded letter A's which symbolise the first letter of the Ave Maria; their number, fifteen, has been related to the Mysteries of the rosary, the form of prayer used to supplicate Mary, the intercessor between Man and God.
The figures, with round heads and well formed faces, reflect Christus's finest manner. His models were inspired by Van Eyck, whom he followed in some of his paintings, and Van der Weyden, from whom he derived his expressive mood. The influence of both artists is evident in Christus's late period, to which the present painting belongs.
Mar Borobia
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