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Original fileChristus en zijn bruid onder een appelboom
About This Work
Jesus Christ is shown handing a flowering branch and a fruit-laden branch to a kneeling, crowned woman who represents his Bride, the Church or the Soul. To the left, Moses holds the Tablets of the Law alongside Aaron in his high priestly robes with a censer; to the right, a heavily armored Roman-style soldier represents secular authority. The scene is framed by a dense landscape and a large apple tree, a reference to the erotic-mystical imagery of the Song of Songs.
This print allegorizes the union between the divine and the human soul (Anima) or the Church (Ecclesia) through the lens of the Song of Solomon. It places Christ at the center of both religious history (the Old Law of Moses/Aaron) and civil governance, reflecting late 16th-century concerns with the integration of spiritual and temporal life.
Inscriptions(Latin)
Scilicet haec SPONSA est, et FLOS nobile germen Quem DEVS ante alios SPONSVS sibi pratulit omnes, Atq uelut ramis Mali felicis obumbrat. Et fructu beat ubertim, folijsq decorat. Dextra DEI cultus, & ritus fraude carentes, Laeua magistratus & publica munia signat: Hinc uelut exhilarata mero laetatur, & altis Exilit acta iugis, Ceruae de more uolantis.
Translation
Truly this is the BRIDE, and the FLOWER, a noble seed, Whom GOD the BRIDEGROOM preferred for himself before all others, And as with the branches of a blessed Apple tree, He overshadows her, And blesses her abundantly with fruit, and adorns her with leaves. The right hand of GOD signifies worship and rites devoid of fraud, The left signifies the magistracy and public duties: Hence, as if exhilarated by wine, she rejoices, and is driven To leap from the high ridges, after the manner of a flying deer.
Connected Texts
Song of Solomon (Song of Songs)
The central motif of Christ as the apple tree and the Bride seeking his shade is a direct visualization of Song of Songs 2:3.
Collections
Provenance & Source
Object
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
paper
height 208 mm x width 257 mm
allegory
Linked Data
AI AI-cataloged fields generated by gemini-3-flash-preview on April 2, 2026. Getty identifiers are AI-inferred and may require verification.