These windows are on the north side of the Corona. The name ‘Jesse’ comes from the Book of Isaiah chapter 11 verses 1-3 and the ancestry used came from Matthew chapter 1 verses 1-17. There are two Jesse windows, the left one is only two panels but is original 12th century and was only returned to the cathedral in 1954 whereas the right hand complete window is a 19th century copy of a lost original (Image 1).
The right hand window shows Jesse, the ‘root’, at the bottom with foliage spreading up. In the original, the two panels were not intended to be next to each other. Both are shown seated with hands grasping the leafy branches springing from the ‘Stem of Jesse’. The work has been identified as being by the same designer who made some of the Bible windows
What to see:
- The lower panel shows IOSIAS, or Josiah (Image 2)
- The upper panel SCA MARIA, or the Virgin Mary; this is a very rare survival (Image 3)
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