Pavol Černý

Románská madona typu "sedes sapientiae" z české soukromé sbírky

A wooden Romanesque sculpture of the Madonna was recently discovered in a private collection in the Czech Republic. The sculpture presents the Virgin seated on a throne. On her left knee she is holding the small figure of baby Jesus, who is clothed and making a gesture of blessing, and in her right hand she is holding a large golden orb. The facial section of the Madonna's head has not survived and only the rear of the head and part of the crown remains, but apart from that the sculpture is preserved in a good condition. It was carved from just several pieces of linden wood and then covered in polychrome and fitted with binding cloth, pieces of which have survived to date. It was originally 34 cm in height, making it one of the smallest surviving monuments of this type. Iconographically it is a Sedes sapientiae (the Seat of Wisdom), and typologically it is an allusion to the Old Testament Sapientia Patris (the Wisdom of the Father), which in this case is embodied by the figure of baby Jesus. Stylistically the wooden sculpture belongs to the mature period of Romanesque art, probably from before the year 1200, which is apparent from the pleating along the bottom of the Madonna's clothes, reminiscent of French Gothic sculpture from the middle of the 12th century, and from the style of the clothing, a fashion that generally lasted up until the beginning of the 13th century. However, the motifs and style of the Czech Madonna most strongly resemble some analogical monuments from what is now northeast Switzerland, in particular a Romanesque sculpture of the Virgin from Wil (St Gallen). The Madonna and child were discovered in a private Czech collection may therefore have originated in that region, a place where Italian, French, and German influences came together.

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