Domus Sapientiae: A Mariological and Christological Metaphor According to the Patristic, Theological, and Liturgical Tradition

This article sheds light on the repercussions of the Proverbs sentence “Wisdom has built her house” on Christian doctrine and on the Marian iconography of the Annunciation. To achieve his objectives, the author uses a double comparative analysis as a methodology. To begin with, he analyzes a vast corpus of texts in which numerous Fathers, theologians, and liturgical hymnographers of Eastern and Western Churches interpret this biblical locution according to Mariological and Christological projections. Secondly, he analyzes eight pictorial Annunciations from the Italian Renaissance in which Mary’s house in Nazareth is depicted as a luxurious palace. As a result of these two sets of analyses, the author concludes that the interpretations of the Fathers, theologians, and hymnographers about the house built by Wisdom and the form of the house/palace in images of the Annunciation allude to the dogma of God the Son’s supernatural human conception/incarnation in Mary’s virginal womb.