About the Artwork
Beginning as early as the tenth century, sculptures depicting Jesus on the back of a donkey were carried or rolled through towns across German-speaking lands in a reenactment of his entry into Jerusalem on the Sunday before Easter, known as Palm Sunday. Their use on this holy day lent the objects their German name: Palmesel, or Palm Donkey. Many medieval Palmesel remain in alpine regions today, where the tradition survives, offering a chance for worshippers to imagine themselves within the biblical story. This is a rare example in a North American museum collection. This Palmesel looks a bit worn. Its ears and the wheels that would have carried it are missing, along with one of Jesus’s feet. The touches of many hands have smoothed the donkey’s rump. Wormholes are visible across Jesus’s face, where insects bored into the wood beneath the layers of colorful paint that once enlivened the figure. Fragments of metal at the sides of his head allude to a now-lost metal halo that shone in the sun during outdoor processions. These losses and signs of wear are valuable reminders of the vital role it once played within a religious community.
Christ Entering Jerusalem on the Back of a Donkey
between 1480 and 1490
Christof Langeisen
active 1509 - 1517
German
Unknown
Lindenwood, polychrome pigment
Overall: 56 1/2 × 16 × 43 1/2 inches (143.5 × 40.6 × 110.5 cm) Overall (depth through figure's elbows): 16 inches (40.6 cm) Overall: 12 × 35 1/2 inches (30.5 × 90.2 cm)
Sculpture
European Sculpture and Dec Arts
Gift of Lillian Henkel Haass
57.97
Public Domain
Markings
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Provenance
(Henri Daguerre, Paris, France)
(Joseph Brummer, New York, New York, USA)
Lillian Henkel Haass (Detroit, MIchigan, USA)
1957-present, gift to the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:
Provenance pageExhibition History
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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.
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Suggest FeedbackPublished References
Richardson, E.P. "Three Late Gothic Wood Sculptures." Art Quarterly 3, no. 4 (1940): pp. 343- 347; p. 343 (fig. 4); p. 344 (fig. 5).
Corgan, C. "A Late Gothic Palmesel." Bulletin of the DIA 37, no. 3 (1957-58): pp. 66-67; p. 66 (ill.).
Lipsmeyer, E. "Palmsonntag-Christus und Palmesel." Volkskunst. Zeitschrift für volkstümliche Sachkultur 12, no. 1 (February 1989): p. 50; p. 52 (fig. 5).
Gillerman, D., ed. Gothic Sculpture in America. Vol. II. The Museums of the Midwest. Turnhout, 2001, pp. 155-157, no. 118; p. 156 (ill.).
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Credit Line for Reproduction
Christof Langeisen, Christ Entering Jerusalem on the Back of a Donkey, between 1480 and 1490, lindenwood, polychrome pigment. Detroit Institute of Arts, Gift of Lillian Henkel Haass, 57.97.
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