  
  About the Artwork
  
  
  This sculpture portrays the seated Virgin Mary as the Throne of Wisdom (sedes sapientiae), a popular devotional image during the Romanesque period. The Virgin appears here not as the mother of a child but rather as the mother of God, an icon stiffly presenting the figure of the infant Jesus on her lap while he raises his arm in a gesture of benediction. Such wood images were placed on altars, where they were the objects of religious devotion, but they were also at times carried in processions and appeared in liturgical dramas like the enactment of the story of the Three Wise Men.
  
  
  Title
  Madonna and Child Enthroned
  
  
  Artwork Date
  ca. 1225
  
  Artist
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  Life Dates
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  Nationality
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events.
  Some definitions include:
  Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation.
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  
  Culture
  
  
  
  Please note:
  Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group.
  
  
  
  
  Italian
  
  
  Medium
  Polychromed and gilded poplar
  
  
  Dimensions
  Overall: 62 1/2&Atilde;&#151; 21 1/4 &Atilde;&#151; 20 inches (158.8 &Atilde;&#151; 54 &Atilde;&#151; 50.8 cm)
  
  
  Classification
  Sculpture
  
  
  Department
  European Sculpture and Dec Arts
  
  
  Credit
  Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edsel B. Ford
  
  
  
  Accession Number
  
  
  
  This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection.
  Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum&acirc;&#128;&#153;s holdings.
  For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems&acirc;&#128;&#148;no longer assigned&acirc;&#128;&#148;that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups.
  
  
  
  30.383
  
  
  Copyright
  Public Domain
  
  
  
