Madonna of the Dry Tree (Petrus Christus, 1462-5) Card

Madonna of the Dry Tree or Our Lady of the Barren Tree are names given to a small 14.7 centimetres (5.8 in) x 12.4 centimetres (4.9 in) 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, 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 "A"s hanging from its branches may represent the first letter of the Angelic Salutation, the Ave Maria.