Crowned Christ

Origin: Russia
Age: Ends of the XIXth Century – Beginning of the XXth Century
Composition: Tempera on wood
Measures Cms: 73,0 X 54,5 X 2,5

The mystical wedding between Christ and the church is announced in the words of Psalm 44 “At your right hand a queen with the gold of Ophir.” The virgin represents the Church-queen and Christ is the husband, the king and the priest. The Old Testament contains an omen of the image of the Virgin in the Queen of Sheba, who visited Solomon attracted by her wisdom. Solomon’s gold came from Ophir, according to the Book of Kings. Christ appears dressed as corresponds to his royal and episcopal dignity, and the image of him through King Solomon is linked to another iconographic variant: the icon of the Hagia Sophia, the Divine Wisdom on the throne between the Virgin and the Baptist.