Madonna as Sedes Sapientiae (Seat of Wisdom)

This Madonna, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, comes from the former Camaldolese abbey at Borgo San Sepolcro near Arezzo. The firm conception of the shapes; the tension of the figures, which are conceived more in terms of outline than of bodily form; the austere frontality; and the strongly geometrical folds of the clothing, a feature that owes much to Byzantine inspiration – all of these, together with the remarkably well-preserved original polychromy, lend the statue an austere, solemn look. Two small lions support the Madonna’s footstool. These are an allusion to the lions surrounding the throne of Solomon, the “seat of wisdom”; the Madonna is herself the seat of wisdom for the Solomon of the New Covenant. The inscription at the bottom makes reference to this function; it identifies the artist who made the sculpture, Presbyter Martinus, and it names the abbot, Peter, under whose rule this work was created in January of 1199.