The pose of the Virgin and Child from the Auvergne Region in France is known as the Throne of Wisdom and depicts Christ as the incarnation of wisdom itself. As in many other pieces of artwork depicting the two features, Mary is holding Christ in her laugh, once again playing the part of his imperial throne. Statues like this were devotional objects and were used for ceremonial events or processions, carried above a crowd signifying importances.

Influenced by early medieval art and humanistic style. the Renier of Huy was commissioned by Hellenius of Notre Dame, considered an abbot, or a head of abbey monks.The twelve oxen represent the twelve apostles and the basin was used as the baptismal area. The Koran Paradise theme is depicted by the trees and the ripples indicating a river.

Both pieces almost represent two steps of a process, in a way. The first uses people to represent a spiritual literality, while the second uses animals to represent a spiritual, human literality.