Jesse, Tree of

Jesse, Tree Of, in ecclesiastical architecture, is a representation of the genealogy of Christ on scrolls of foliage so arranged as to represent a tree, and was quite a common subject for sculpture, painting, and embroidery. In ancient churches, the candlesticks often took this form, and was therefore called a Jesse. See Parker, Gloss. Archit. s.v.; Walcott, Sacred Archoeology, p. 333.