"Seat of Wisdom (Sedes Sapientiae)". Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden sculpture. Gothic. 14th century.

"Seat of Wisdom (Sedes Sapientiae)". Carved, polychromed and gilded wooden sculpture. Gothic. 14th century.
Geographically, in our opinion, this sculpture must have been made in the Meuse or Rhine Valley.
The Madonna is seated on her queen’s throne, holding the Child in her lap, now off-centre. She wears a tunic which is cinched at the waist and forms folds which fall to her knees. She wears a short veil on her head.
With a sweet face, almond-shaped eyes, and with a slight smile on her lips, the sculpture still preserves most of the hieratism of the Romanesque tradition.
Polychroming and gilding from the 16th century. The right arms of Mary and the Child are missing.
It appears that the Virgin Mary’s face may have been darkened, and evidently it has not been re-polychromed like the rest of the image, maybe with the intention of making it seem like a black Madonna.
66 x 21,5 x 18 cm.