Virgin Mary and Child Enthroned on Lions (Madonna of Skarbimierz)

The sculpture of the Virgin and Child enthroned on Lions is regarded as the best work from the circle of Madonnas Enthroned on Lions. It is thought to have been made in Wrocław and attributed to the workshop of the Master of the Figures of Apostles from St Mary Magdalene’s Church in Wrocław. Its supreme artistry, sophisticated form, and complex symbolism suggest that the patron who commissioned the sculpture belonged to the city’s intellectual elite.

The dominant figure in the group, the Virgin is shown seated on a cushion arranged on a bench supported on slender legs. Her round face is frozen in a broad smile characteristic of the said circle. Her long, tightly curled locks are covered with a veil held in place with a diadem. On her right knee, she supports the figure of the Child Jesus, the piece of golden cloth wrapped around his hip. His right hand is raised in the gesture of blessing. His feet are supported by a kneeling angel and so is the sceptre held in the Virgin’s left hand: facing each other, the figures of angels thus flank the group. The angels kneel on the figures of two antithetically arranged lions, against the head of one of them rests the Virgin’s right foot.

The symbolism of the sculpture is complex reflecting the ambiguity of meanings associated with the figure of lion in Christian iconography. On the one hand, the lion may symbolize the vanquished devil, especially when shown barring its teeth or stretching its back. On the other hand, it may also stand for legitimate authority and just law, and hence a companion and attribute of rulers.
It is the latter, positive, interpretation that seems to underlie the featured sculpture, especially that the beasts seem benign and friendly. Moreover, there are still traces of gold-washed silver leaf on their backs. Gold being associated with the divine element in medieval art, the treatment would have been inconsistent with lions as the symbol of evil.

The presence of tamed, benign beasts resting under Mary’s feet has been interpreted as referring to the Old Testament prophecy about the Lion of Judah, representing the ultimate king and ruler and thus foretelling Jesus, the son of Mary and the descendant of Judah through David, as the Messiah. Although there are only two lions placed at Mary’s feet, their presence brings to mind King Solon’s throne described in Chronicles 2 (9: 17-19): “Then the king made a great throne covered with ivory and overlaid with pure gold. The throne had six steps, and a footstool of gold was attached to it. On both sides of the seat were armrests, with a lion standing beside each of them. Twelve lions stood on the six steps, one at either end of each step. Nothing like it had ever been made for any other kingdom." The sculpture also recalls the iconography of Sedes Sapientiae, or Throne of Wisdom, one of Mary’s devotional titles. Literally and figuratively, herself enthroned, she is also a throne for the infant Jesus, Wisdom incarnate, on her lap.
[Agata Stasińska]

keywords: angel  |  Gothic art  |  Granier, F. (fl. ca 1888) – painter, restorer  |  Hoffmann, Paul (fl. ca. 1915) – resident of Breslau (Wrocław)  |  lion (animal)  |  Madonna on a lion  |  Mother of God / Mary with the Child / Madonna (Mary / Virgin Mary)  |  sculpture (fine arts)  |  Silesian sculpture  |  Skarbimierz (Opole Voivodeship)  |  Silesian art  |  Silesian Museum of Crafts and Antiquities (Wrocław) / Schlesisches Museum für Kunstgewerbe und Altertümer (Breslau)  |  throne