Aaron's Flowering Staff
13th century
Fresco
Church of St. Cyriakus, Berghausen, Germany
In Numbers 17:1-10 Moses places one staff for each of the twelve tribes in the tabernacle. Each staff bears the name of the leader of one tribe. The next day the staff of Aaron, leader of the tribe of Levi, is seen to have sprouted flowers and fruit, which the exegetes take as a type of Christ's fruitful sacrifice on the Cross.
In the fresco the staffs sit in a basket, not mentioned in the text. Aaron's flowing garments and horn-shaped diadem are the usual for his images in the medieval West. At his back stand the leaders of the other eleven tribes.
On the far right Samson pulls down the columns supporting the Philistines' temple (Judges 16:29-30).
Read more about images of Aaron.
Read more about images of Samson.
Source: This page at Wikimedia Commons.
