«ПРЕМУДРОСТЬ БОЖИЯ» В МОЗАИКАХ СОБОРА МОНРЕАЛЕ

Abstract

As special devotional image among the Montreal Cathedral mo- saics is dedicated to the personification of the Wisdom of God on the east side of the arch that separates the central nave from the transept. The Wisdom is depicted as a queen-like wife with her hands raised in prayer, entitled SAPIEN- TIA DEI. Below on the sides of the arch the Archangels Gabriwl and Michael are adoring her. The image is located at the beginning of the Old Testament scenes on the walls of the nave. A personification of the Wisdom of God as a queen-like wife is not known in the Byzantine art of the 11 th – 12 th centuries but is found among Roman min- iatures. This depiction is similar to personifications of the Church in Roman and early Byzantine monumental painting. It is difficult to tell the difference without an inscription. A Roman example could be used by Byzantine artists of the Monreale as а model. The image in the Monreale may be considered as personification of both Wisdom and the Church. Such double personification is found in Medieval images.