, showing an image of the donor together with Mary, Seat of Wisdom This type of
Madonna image is based on the Byzantine prototype of the
Chora tou Achoretou ("Container of the Uncontainable"), an epithet mentioned in the
Acathist Hymn and present in the Greek East by the early 11th century, when the Byzantine-inspired enamels were made in Germany for the
Cross of Mathilde. The type appeared in a wide range of sculptural and, later, painted images in Western Europe, especially around 1200. In these representations, some structural elements of the throne invariably appear, even if only handholds and front legs. The Virgin's feet often rest on a low stool. Later, Gothic sculptures of the type are more explicitly identifiable with the Throne of Solomon, where: "...two lions stood, one at each hand. And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps on the one side and on the other."(I Kings 10: 18–20) The
Sedes sapientiae icon also appeared in illuminated manuscripts and Romanesque frescoes and mosaics, and was represented on seals. The icon possesses in addition emblematic verbal components: the Virgin
as the Throne of Wisdom is a
trope of Damiani or Guibert de Nogent, based on their
typological interpretation of the passage in the
Books of Kings, that describes the throne of Solomon (I Kings 10: 18–20, repeated at II Chronicles 9: 17–19). This was much used in
Early Netherlandish painting in works like the
Lucca Madonna by
Jan van Eyck. == Other uses ==