Madonna and Child Enthroned

ca. 1225

Italian

On View

European: Medieval and Renaissance, Level 2, West Wing

Madonna and Child Enthroned: 1 of Collection Gallery

Madonna and Child Enthroned: 2 of Collection Gallery

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About the Artwork

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Provenance

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Exhibition History

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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 ----------

Life Dates ----------

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× 21 1/4 × 20 inches (158.8 × 54 × 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’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—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 30.383

Markings

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

Until 1930, (Enrico Testa) (Florence, Italy)

1930-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

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Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Heil, W. "An Italian Wood Madonna of the Thirteenth Century." Bulletin of the DIA 12, 2 (1930): p. 19 (ill.).

Valentiner, W.R. Italian Gothic and Early Renaissance Sculpture. Exh. cat., DIA. Detroit, 1938, no. 1 (ill.) [unpaginated].

Francovich, Geza de. Scultura Medioevale in Legno. Rome, 1943, pp. 6-7 (pl. 6).

Carli, Enzo. Bois Sculptés Polychromes du XIIème au XVIème Siècle en Italie. Milan, 1963, p. 23 (pl. 20).

Treasures from the Detroit Institute of Arts, Exh. cat., The Detroit Institute of Arts. Detroit, 1966, p. 61.

Sculture Antiche dal II Secolo. Abbazia Santa Maria di Chiaravalle. Milan, (fig. 4, pl. 5)

Lieveaux-Boccador, Jacqueline and Edouard Bresset. Statuaire Medievale de Collection. 1972, pp. 60-61.

Darr, A. P. "A Valentiner Legacy: Italian Sculpture in Detroit." Apollo 124 (December 1986): pp. 476-477.

Lorenzelli, J., P.Lorenzelli, and A. Veca. Custode dell'Immagine, Scultura Lignea Europea XII-XV Secolo. Bergamo, 1987, p. 158-161 (fig. 182).

Darr, A. P., P. Barnet, A. Boström, with contributions by C. Avery... [et. al.]. Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Detroit Institute of Arts,2 vols. London, 2002, cat. 31.

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