Sedes Sapientiae (The Seat of Wisdom)

The Virgin Mary is seated with the Christ Child on her left knee. She is holding a partially broken sceptre in her right hand. The Christ Child is making a gesture of blessing with his right hand and holding an orb, supported on his leg, in his left. A representation of the enthroned Mother of God with her child on her lap is known as a Sedes Sapientiae or Throne of Wisdom. In this representation, Christ is connected to wise King Solomon from the Old Testament, the founder of the first Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Virgin symbolises his golden throne, on which Jesus has taken his place as the new Solomon. This work is a late example, which can be deduced from the difference in the two figures’ expressions compared to their predecessors from the twelfth and early thirteenth century, where the general tone is much cooler and more aloof.