Romanesque Virgin Sedes Sapientiae. Rhineland Region.

Virgin and Child in Majesty known as Sedes Sapientiae from the Romanesque period. The mother and child are both crowned and present a perfectly frontal position. The Virgin, in a dress with straight pleats, wears a large headdress hemmed in wolf teeth whose sides are joined by a rectangular buckle on the chest. Christ raises his right arm in a sign of blessing and holds the open Book in his left hand. The rectangular throne displays a tall and slender shape typical of Nordic and Germanic productions. The elongated face of the Virgin, the shape of her mouth and the narrow shoulders place this sculpture in the corpus of Germanic Muttergottes of the 12th century with a probable origin around Cologne.

Small in size, probably dedicated to private worship, carved in poplar wood, our sculpture still shows tiny traces of polychromy; it was visibly stripped in the past in order to remove the residual polychromy. No restorations detected, except for the application of a protective wax. Missing the right arms of the Virgin and Christ, left lateral crack. Good general state of conservation.
Related works: Muttergottes from Hoven (Kloster Marienborn), 12th century. Thronende Muttergottes, 12th century, Schilling Kapellen, Frankfurt am Main - Virgin in Majesty from the Hannover Museum from comes from Nikolausberg, 12th century.
Works consulted: Rhin-Meuse. Art and civilization 800-1400. An exhibition of the Belgian Ministries of French culture and Dutch culture, of the Schnütgen-Museum of the City of Cologne, Cologne/Brussels, 1972 - Belgian Review of Archaeology and Art History, volume 30, 1961 - Medieval statuary collection. Volume I. Liéveaux-Boccador, Jacqueline. - Bresset, Edouard 1972.

Origin: Rhineland, Germany.

Medium: Poplar wood.

Size: H: 50cm.

Period: 12th century.

Condition: Visible losses and crack

Price: on demand

Ref.249