A fine and important North Netherlandish carved oak 'Tree of Prophecies', probably Utrecht late Gothic, late 15th century

finely carved in high relief, depicting eleven half-figures of sybils, prophets and evangelists, sprouting from and entwined by tree branches, the root base and probably upper left figure later replacements

With the E. Ten Cate Collection, Almelo.

Nederlandse Primitieven, Singer Museum Laren, 1961, cat. 137.

The iconographic basis of the present relief is not entirely clear, not in the least due to the fact that the later base could indicate that the relief formerly perhaps was part of a larger composition, most likely a Tree of Jesse. This assumption is further supported by the fact that for example there are only two sybils and four apostles represented.
The argument against a Tree of Jesse would be the absence of clearly distinctive figures, such as for instance King David, the Virgin or Jesse himself.
The juxtaposition of sybils, prophets and apostles or evangelists, where the Old Testament prophecies prefigurates the revealed truth of the New Testament (Concordia Veteris et Novi Testamenti), here in the form of a tree, can be found for instance in the Southern rose windows of Chartres Cathedral.
The present relief features several characteristic elements of the Utrecht sculptural canon of the late 15th century which was strongly influenced by the work of the best known Utrecht master Adriaen van Wesel. These are for example the whig-like character of the hairdress and beard, the clear eye for daily realism and naturalistic detail, the elegant poses and the wealthy bourgeois type garments of the figures.