Palmesel (Palm Donkey)

(Found here)

(Found here)

(Found here)

(Found here)

(Found here)

(Found here)

(Found here)

A Palmesel (Palm Donkey) is a medieval, often life-size wooden sculpture of Jesus riding a donkey, used in Palm Sunday processions to reenact his entry into Jerusalem. Popular in Germany and surrounding regions from the 10th-16th centuries, these figures were placed on wheels, dressed in robes, and pulled through streets, serving as an interactive, theatrical act of worship.

“Unlike many museum objects from the Middle Ages, the Palmesel was accessible not just to the wealthy elite and the clergy but to all levels of society. It moved among the laypeople so that they could participate in an immersive experience of a significant event from Christ’s life in their own time and place.”

~A Walters Art Museum curator

Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
   Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you;
   triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
   on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

~Zechariah 9:9