Catalan School. Romanesque. Circa 1175. 'Christ in Majesty. Maiestas Domini'' Carved and polychrome wooden sculpture. 47 x 15 x 6 cm.   This marvellous image would originally have formed part of the central mandorla of a Romanesque altar frontal of Catalan origin. It preserves its original polychromy. This sculpture depicts Christ enthroned and crowned, as celestial majesty, holding the open Book of Life on his left leg and raising his right hand in a gesture of blessing. This unique piece bears a clear resemblance to the Maiestas from the Romanesque altar frontal of Santa Maria de Taüll (inv. 003904-CJT), kept in the Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya, Barcelona. The Pantocrator we present is published in the Encyclopaedia of Spanish Romanesque Art, in the volume corresponding to A Coruña, in a study by Professor Gerardo Boto Varela, Chair of Art History at the University of Girona. In his analysis, the professor discusses the piece, its Pyrenean origins, and its comparison with the Taüll Maiestas, stating that both works “feature a central lock of hair on the forehead, prominent beard and moustache, a long tunic [...], a cloak barely covering the right shoulder and falling to the waist on the left [and] the same parallel and concentric folds on the legs of both pieces, though with a greater graphic density in the MNAC carving.” Boto also affirms that “the Pyrenean lineage of the piece can be asserted with confidence, and it would have originated within the diocese of Urgell.”   Professor Boto notes that the position of all anatomical extremities is hieratic, the face frontal and expressionless—as is customary—and defined only by the remnants of paint and the cylindrical crown atop the head. The reverse of the piece is completely flat. Although it is a free-standing figure (de bulto redondo), the brevity of the base in relation to the vertical projection confirms that the sculpture was intended to be inserted against a flat surface along its back. In both typology and morphology, it corresponds to the 'Christ in Majesty' figures that appear within a mandorla at the center of certain altar frontals from Catalonia, of Pyrenean origin, executed in the second half of the 12th century.   Provenance: Private collection. A Coruña, Spain.   Reference bibliography: - VV.AA. (2013). 'Enciclopedia del Románico en Galicia'. Tomo I. Pág. 393 y 394. Texto del Profesor Gerardo Boto Varela.