Medieval | Enthroned Madonna

Object description

Dating to the early 12th century AD, this is a Romanesque statue of the Madonna. Mary is shown as “Theotokos” (Mother of God) or “Sedes Sapientiae” (the Seat of Wisdom).

Wearing a fine red gown, elaborate belt and brooch, along with a blue mantle, she is seated on a high-backed throne. Made of limewood, the throne is decorated with flowers and geometric motifs.

Statues such as this normally show the Christ child on Mary’s knee. However, in this case, He is missing. He would probably have been shown as a child-size man.

Mary’s long, oval face and foreshortening of her neck and upper body suggest that the statue was intended to be viewed from below. Many of these madonnas were made to stand on altars and plinths. They were also designed for mobility, often carried in processions and used in liturgical dramas, such as Epiphany plays.

Representations of women in religious contexts

Women have been revered in religious contexts since ancient times. In Ancient Egypt, there were several female deities such as Isis (motherhood), Sekhmet (war), Hathor (love) and Nut (sky). These have been represented as statues, in paintings and hieroglyphs in tombs.

Female deities were also honoured in Ancient Greece and Rome. Athena was the patron goddess of Athens. A festival known as the Panathenea was held in honour of her birthday every year. Competitions included athletic events such as foot races, wrestling, chariot races, and music. Winners were awarded pottery vessels with depictions of Athena in a warlike guise with her spear. Other Greek goddesses include Hera (marriage) Artemis (hunting) and Aphrodite (love). Temples were built to honour these goddesses with large statues of the deities housed inside.

In the Roman Empire, female deities were also significant . Interestingly, the Romans adopted deities from other cultures into their own. One such example is the ancient Egyptian goddess, Isis. A temple was dedicated to her in Pompeii and small statuettes of her were found in houses in Pompeii.

A particularly interesting depiction of a female deity in Pompeii is a wall painting showing a religious procession (see image below). We know from literary sources that there were events in Rome which were held in honour of Cybele (Magna Mater, or the Great Mother); one was the Ludi Megalenses, a major festival in the Roman religious calendar which Ovid describes in his work, Fasti (4.179-187).

The festival involved a procession in which a statue of Cybele was carried through the city and participants played instruments such as cymbals and drums. Based on his description, it is possible that the procession depicted in this wall painting refers to the Ludi Megalenses; some participants hold cymbals and a statue of Cybele (identifiable by the lion at her side) is on a wooden litter which presumably would have been carried. This is similar to the statue of the Madonna which is thought to have been carried in processions.

This is of course only a snapshot of females in religious contexts. There are many others from the time periods mentioned and of course through later centuries.

Sources

The Hunt Museum Essential Guide. Scala Publishers. 2002.

https://artmuseum.princeton.edu

Dwyer, Ciara. Thesis: Manifestations of religion in the Pompeiian Household and Neighbourhood. Department of Classics, Trinity College Dublin. 2019.