These two panels form the uppermost narrative tier of the Tree of Jesse window at Tours Cathedral. Positioned to the left and right of Christ enthroned, they represent the climax of the Infancy cycle and illustrate events immediately following Christ’s birth. The scenes reflect both the historical narrative and its theological meaning within the larger composition.

The Massacre of the Innocents

Panel: Upper left
Subject: Herod’s soldiers murdering the infants of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16–18)

The panel depicts the violent order of King Herod after the Magi fail to return with news of the newborn Christ. A soldier raises his sword over a struggling child while another infant lies beneath him, conveying the brutality of the episode with characteristic late-13th-century directness. A shocked mother attempts to shield her child, her gesture forming a diagonal counter-movement to the soldier’s blow. The bright red and blue palette and strong outlines are typical of the Tours workshops active in this period.

As placed within the Jesse window, this scene represents the worldly threat to the royal lineage that culminates in Christ and contrasts sharply with the serenity of the kings shown beneath.

The Flight into Egypt

Panel: Upper right
Subject: The Holy Family fleeing to Egypt (Matthew 2:13–15)

Opposite the massacre panel is the Flight into Egypt. The Virgin Mary rides a small, compact donkey, holding the Christ Child close. Joseph walks beside them, his cloak blown back as though by the urgency of their journey. One of the guiding angels—an iconographic motif common in French windows of this period—appears above or beside the group.

Within the vertical structure of the Tree of Jesse, this panel symbolises divine protection over the royal line, contrasting with Herod’s attempt to extinguish it. Its placement opposite the massacre forms a narrative pair: peril and preservation.

Context within the Tree of Jesse

These scenes form the narrative climax before the genealogy reaches Christ enthroned in the centre of the tier. Together they express the tension between earthly violence and divine providence that shapes the early life of Christ. Their elevated position in the window gives them exceptional prominence within the overall programme.

Significance

The juxtaposition of these two panels in a Jesse window is distinctive to Tours. Their expressive intensity, paired with the ordered lineage of the kings below, creates one of the most striking integrations of narrative and genealogy in any surviving French Gothic stained-glass cycle.