The Vine Dresser and the Fig Tree (Le vigneron et le figuier)

James Tissot · 1886–1894
Brooklyn Museum, New York

The owner of the vineyard, in a long brown robe and a spotted headcloth, stands with his hands on his hips and stares at a fig tree with bare, twisting grey branches and only a few leaves.

Across from him the keeper of the vineyard bends down in a short tunic and points to the ground at the roots, his hoe stuck in the earth beside him. Tissot drew every crooked twig of the tree.

From the text

“for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any” (Luke 13:7)

“leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it” (Luke 13:8)

The artist’s own

The hoe stuck in the ground

The owner’s spotted headcloth and long robe

Details

The owner

He stands with his hands on his hips, looking at the tree.

The keeper

He bends and points to the roots.

The hoe

A tool stands upright in the earth.

Bare branches

Grey twisting branches with hardly a leaf.

James Tissot, French, 1836–1902. Brooklyn Museum, New York (Purchased by public subscription, 00.159.82) · Opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper · Brooklyn Museum (Commons file page, «Permission»): "This image was uploaded by the Brooklyn Museum as a content partnership, and is considered to have no known copyright restrictions by the institutions of the Brooklyn Museum." — "No known copyright restrictions".

The verses

Luke 13:6–9Then Jesus told this parable: “A man had a fig tree that was planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the keeper of the vineyard, ‘Look, for the past three years I have come to search for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Therefore cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone again this year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. But if not, you can cut it down.’”