Late American Spanish school, circa 1300.
"Virgin as Sedes sapientiae".
Carved and polychromed wood.
It presents damage caused by xylophagous and leaps in the carving and polychromy.
Measurements: 79 x 32 x 29 cm.
The carving presents the couple formed by the Virgin with her Son on her lap. It is a carving that follows the typology of the "Sede Sapientiae" or "Throne of Wisdom". Mary, seated facing the viewer, acts as the throne, the seat of Christ, the supreme incarnation of Wisdom. No emotional communication of any kind is established between the two figures, but rather the majesty, the regal aspect of both figures is encouraged. Christ, dressed in a long robe, makes the gesture of blessing with his right hand, while with his left he holds The Gospels. It was also common in medieval carvings that, together with the gesture of blessing, the Child held a sphere, symbol of the totality, of the Universe, which would allude to his condition of "Salvator mundi". Mary, for her part, is depicted wearing a long tunic and cloak that fall in symmetrical folds to the ground. A veil covers her hair, framing her serene and harmonious face. In Christian exegesis, if Eve was the introducer of Sin, Mary is its counter-figure, through whom salvation comes to the human race, thanks to her son, Jesus. Formally, the delicate workmanship of their faces stands out, as well as the soft flesh tones that highlight their cheeks. The remains of polychromy still visible on the Virgin's attire speak of a careful decorative style.
Romanesque is the name given to the first great period of medieval art in Europe (the western part), but it is not a uniform aesthetic movement throughout the territory, neither in aesthetics nor in chronology. In the Iberian Peninsula, it is necessary to speak of Visigothic art (from the 5th century until the Muslim conquest, approximately), Asturian art (area of the Principality of Asturias, without Muslim domination, between the end of the 8th and the beginning of the 10th century), Mozarabic art (of the Christians who lived in Muslim territory, from 711 to the end of the 11th century) and not forgetting Islamic Andalusian art, given that, chronologically, we are between the 5th or 5th centuries AD and the 10th or 11th centuries. Romanesque sculpture pursues mainly didactic aims, and its images are conceived as a visual narrative, which must always be clearly legible. At this time, prior to the quest for naturalism that would emerge during the Gothic period, the language is purely conceptual, and functions on the basis of symbols and conventions accepted by all. In this sense, anatomy is synthetic, representative rather than a reflection of the natural, as is the treatment of the face.