"Seat of Wisdom (Sedes Sapientiae)". Carved wooden sculpture. Romanesque. 12th century.

"Seat of Wisdom (Sedes Sapientiae)". Carved wooden sculpture. Romanesque. 12th century.
5,5 x 25 x 23 cm.
This image could have its geographical origins in Catalonia if we compare it, for example, with the Virgin of Santa Maria de Lluçà which is kept in the Episcopal Museum of Vic (inv.1958). Both have the characteristic chubby cheeks, and the central treatment of Mary’s tunic follows the same models. The Child has not been preserved on the Virgin of Santa Maria de Llucà, but would have been placed in the same position as this one, and the clothing would undoubtedly have followed the same symmetrical model.
Even so, the provenance is difficult to pin down as the typology of these images had quite a few elements in common. There are similarities with the Xhoris Madonna and Child at Grand Curtius Museum in Liege, and which recent studies have dated circa 1000 to 1100.
From the 11th century, with a movement that culminated in the Gregorian Reform (1073), the image of the Virgin in Majesty and its symbolism was developed.
The Sedes Sapientiae, or seat of wisdom, became the image of Mary par excellence. In this way Mary is both the means of the incarnation of the Lord and His main support.
This important sculpture is a faithful example of the characteristic Romanesque stylistics of the Virgin in Majesty. Mary is seated on her throne of glory, and is also a throne for her son who, following the Romanesque canons, is seated at the center of his mother’s lap. Both are in a forward-facing position, in total symmetry and independent from one another. There is no interaction between Mother and Child.
The apparent simplicity of the clothing is made up for by the quantity of soft and fluid folds which once again are perfectly symmetrical and identical in both Mary and the Child’s clothing.
The frontal attitude, the throne and the severe and inscrutable look accentuate their majesty and invite devotion and respect from the faithful.
Some examples which have similarities to this image are, for example the Vierge de Viévy, dated in the late 11th century, which is kept at the Dijon Musée d’Art Sacrée, (inv. D980.15.1) and catalogued as a Historic Monument of France. Https://art-sacre.dijon.fr/representations-de-vierge-xie-xvie-siecle
Provenance:
- Private collection Brussels, mid-20th century.
- Bought in 1964 by the current owner of the antiquarian Alfredo Noirjean in Barcelona.
Accompanied by an original photograph of the sculpture while it formed part of the Belgian collection, by the photographer Robert Kayaert from Brussels, on the back of which the antiquarian Noirjean wrote out a certificate of authenticity.