It's tricky for many to determine what this piece of vegetation is. It's only a small part of the full painting, but it's quite noticeable. Surely there must be some sort of significance! Pear and fig seem to be the two most popular suggestions. After a bit of processing and studying, I've decided that I'm on "Team Fig."
A fairly basic study of pears shows that they don't stand up on end very easily, and their leaves tend to have pointy tips. A fig, however can grow upwards, and their leaves tend to have rounder ends. Also, figs are mentioned MANY times in the Bible (see the list below!). And pears? I can't find a single verse on pears.
It is widely believed that figs symbolize the people of Israel. Is it possible that the Child Jesus, reaching for the fig, is symbolically reaching out for His people, the people of Israel? Is he hoping to connect with them? To teach them? To save them? To let them know that their Messiah has arrived? To bring them closer to God?
Or, does this painting show a bridge between the Old Testament—represented by Sts. Anne and Joachim, and the New Testament—represented by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph? The arms and hands of Jesus reaching over toward the fig are perhaps a connector joining the New Testament era to the Old Testament era.
What would you call this piece of fruit? And what message comes to your heart when you look at this scene?
The Full Painting:
The Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit [dove]
The Holy Family: Jesus, Mary, and Joseph
The Parents of Mary: St. Anne & St. Joachim
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| The Holy Family and the Parents of Mary: St. Anne & St. Joachim by Andres Zuñiga New Spain; circa 1721 Bandera Natural History And Art Museum |
A Captivating Additional Detail—On the bottom corner of St. Anne's gold-ish garment is a curious portrait of a woman. This lady is believed to have been the patron of this Andres Zuñiga painting.
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| The Baroque/Ornate Signature of the Artist: |
Andres Zuñiga
Fig References in the Bible
Figs are often considered to be a symbol of the People of Israel.
The Fig Tree is a symbol of Messianic Peace (John 1:47-50).
OLD TESTAMENT
Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.
Numbers 13:23
They also reached the Wadi Eshcol, where they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes on it, which two of them carried on a pole, as well as some pomegranates and figs.
Deuteronomy 8:7-9
For the LORD, your God, is bringing you into a good country, a land with streams of water, with springs and fountains welling up in the hills and valleys, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, of olive trees and of honey, a land where you will always have bread and where you will lack nothing, a land whose stones contain iron and in whose hills you can mine copper.
1 Samuel 25:18
Abigail quickly got together two hundred loaves, two skins of wine, five dressed sheep, five seahs of roasted grain, a hundred cakes of pressed raisins, and two hundred cakes of pressed figs, and loaded them on donkeys.
1 Samuel 30:12
… they also offered a cake of pressed figs and two cakes of pressed raisins. When he had eaten, he revived, for he [David] had not taken food nor drunk water for three days and three nights.
1 Kings 5:5 (4:25)
Thus Judah and Israel lived in security, everyone under their own vine and fig tree from Dan to Beer-sheba, as long as Solomon lived.
2 Kings 18:31
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: Make peace with me, and surrender to me! Eat, each of you, from your vine, each from your own fig tree. Drink water, each from your own well …
1 Chronicles 12:41
Moreover, their neighbors from as far as Issachar, Zebulun, and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules, and oxen—provisions in great quantity of meal, pressed figs, raisins, wine, oil, oxen, and sheep. For there was rejoicing in Israel.
Judges 9:10-11
Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come; you reign over us!’ But the fig tree answered them, Must I give up my sweetness and my sweet fruit, and go off to hold sway over the trees?’
1 Maccabees 14:12
Every one sat under his vine and fig tree, with no one to disturb them.
Psalm 105:33
He struck down their vines and fig trees, shattered the trees of their country.
Proverbs 27:18
Those who tend a fig tree eat its fruit;
so those attentive to their master will be honored.
Song of Songs 2:13
The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance.
Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come!
Isaiah 34:4
All the host of heaven shall rot; the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll. All their host shall wither away, as the leaf wilts on the vine, or as the fig withers on the tree.
Jeremiah 5:17a
They will devour your harvest and your bread, devour your sons and your daughters, Devour your sheep and cattle, devour your vines and fig trees …
Jeremiah 8:13
I will gather them all in—oracle of the LORD: no grapes on the vine, No figs on the fig trees, foliage withered! Whatever I have given them is gone.
Jeremiah 24 ~ The Two Baskets of Figs
Jeremiah 29:17
… thus says the LORD of hosts: I am sending against them sword, famine, and pestilence. I will make them like rotten figs, so spoiled that they cannot be eaten.
Hosea 2:14a
I will lay waste her vines and fig trees …
Hosea 9:10
Like grapes in the desert, I found Israel; Like the first fruits of the fig tree, its first to ripen, I looked upon your ancestors.
Joel 1:7
It has stripped bare my vines, splintered my fig tree, Shearing off its bark and throwing it away, until its branches turn white.
Joel 1:12
The vine has dried up, the fig tree has withered; The pomegranate, even the date palm and the apple—every tree in the field has dried up. Joy itself has dried up among the people.
Joel 2:22
Do not fear, you animals in the wild, for the wilderness pastures sprout green grass. The trees bear fruit, the fig tree and the vine produce their harvest.
Amos 4:9
I struck you with blight and mildew; locusts devoured your gardens and vineyards, the caterpillar consumed your fig trees and olive trees; Yet you did not return to me—oracle of the LORD.
Micah 4:4
They shall all sit under their own vines, under their own fig trees, undisturbed; for the LORD of hosts has spoken.
Nahum 3:12
But all your fortresses are fig trees, bearing early figs; When shaken, they fall into the devourer’s mouth.
Haggai 2:19
Is there still seed in the storehouse? Have the vine, the fig, the pomegranate, and the olive tree still not borne fruit? From this day, I will bless you.
Zechariah 3:10
On that day—oracle of the LORD of hosts—you will invite one another under your vines and fig trees.
NEW TESTAMENT
Matthew 21:18-22
The Cursing of the Fig Tree
When he was going back to the city in the morning, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went over to it, but found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again.” And immediately the fig tree withered. When the disciples saw this, they were amazed and said, “How was it that the fig tree withered immediately?” Jesus said to them in reply, Amen, I say to you, if you have faith and do not waver, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Matthew 24:32-35
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Mark 11:12-25
Jesus Curses a Fig Tree
The next day as they were leaving Bethany he was hungry. Seeing from a distance a fig tree in leaf, he went over to see if he could find anything on it. When he reached it he found nothing but leaves; it was not the time for figs. And he said to it in reply, “May no one ever eat of your fruit again!” And his disciples heard it.
*Plausibly a connector between the fig tree as the Old Testament symbol for the Israelites, and judgment on those Israelites/Judeans who ignored the teachings of Christ.
Mark 13:28-31
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
“Learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
Luke 13:6-9
The Parable of the Barren Fig Tree
And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”
Luke 21: 29-33
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
He taught them a lesson. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees.
When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
John 1:47-50
The Calling of Nathanael
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.”
*Some commentaries consider "under the fig tree" to be an indication of messianic peace (see: Micah 4:4 and Zechariah 3:10).
Revelation 6:13
The stars in the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs shaken loose from the tree in a strong wind.
The Feast of Sts. Anna & Joachim is July 26
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