Throne of Wisdom
Throne of WisdomMore of the Throne
of Wisdom
Information
provided
by the Metropolitan Museum, New York:
The imposing
Virgin and
Child represents an iconographic type known as the Throne of Wisdom.
The
abstract linear character of the carving, the upward swirl of the
drapery,
and the heavy-lidded face relate this piece to the sculptures of the
cathedral
of Saint-Lazare at Autun. The altar is probably a composite of several
different contemporary elements. The ciborium, or altar tabernacle, is
almost identical to one in the church of Sant' Andrea at Fiume made by
Nicolaus Ranucius. From this structure, also called a baldachino, hung
a receptacle that held wafers consecrated during the Mass as the Body
of
Christ. The candlesticks are modern reproductions.
Provenance/Ownership
History: Ex colls.: Abbe V. Terret, Autun, France; Joseph Brummer, New
York.