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The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Poland
The Black Madonna of Częstochowa, Poland

A Black Madonna or Black Virgin is a statue or painting of Mary in which she is depicted with dark or black skin. The Black Madonna of Częstochowa ( Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska in Polish, Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae This name applies in particular to European statues or pictures of a Madonna which are of special interest because her dark face and hands is thought by some to be the true color. Images of the Madonna and Madonna and Child are one of the central Icons of Christianity, representing the Madonna or Mary mother of Jesus In this specialised sense "Black Madonna" does not apply to images of the Virgin Mary portrayed as explicitly black African, which are popular in Africa and areas with large black populations, such as the United States. The term black people usually refers to a racial group of Humans with dark Skin color, but the term has also been used to categorise a number of diverse The United States of America —commonly referred to as the However, it has been argued that European Black Madonnas have their roots in African traditions (see below).

Some statues get their color from the material used, such as ebony or other dark wood, but there is debate about whether this choice of material is significant. Ebony ( Diospyros ebenum) also known as India Ebony or Ceylon Ebony depending on its origin is a Tree in the genus Diospyros Others were originally light-skinned but have become darkened over time, for example by candle soot. Soot (ˈsʊt is a general term that refers to the black impure carbon particles resulting from the incomplete combustion of a hydrocarbon For a time this was thought to be the explanation for all medieval "black" images of Mary, but this has been contested by commentators starting in the 1950s with Leonard Moss, who believed the color of originally-dark Madonnas had significance. Occasionally, a Madonna's face has been re-painted black after restoration had returned it to its original pale-skinned coloring, though the blackness of even these is sometimes significant to devotees.

The hard-to-explain Black Madonnas are generally medieval, or copies of medieval figures, and are found in Catholic areas. The statues are mostly wooden but occasionally stone, often painted and up to 75 cm tall, many dating from between the 11th and 15th centuries. They fall into two main groups: free-standing upright figures and seated figures on a throne. The pictures are usually icons: Byzantine in style though sometimes made in 13th or 14th century Italy. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Most are an image of Mother and Child. Their faces tend to have recognizably European features. There are about 450-500 Black Madonnas in Europe, depending on how they are classified. There are at least 180 Vierges Noires in France, and there are hundreds of non-medieval copies too. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A few are in museums, but most are in churches or shrines and are venerated by devotees. Many are associated with miracles and some attract substantial numbers of pilgrims. A miracle is an event believed to be caused by interposition of Divine intervention by a Supernatural being in the Universe by which the ordinary operation A pilgrim is one who undertakes a Pilgrimage, literally 'far afield'

The Black Virgin of Montserrat: a copy at Barcelona Cathedral
The Black Virgin of Montserrat: a copy at Barcelona Cathedral

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Theories about the Black Madonnas

After a late 19th and early 20th century theory that applied dark skin color was due to the candles burnt in prayer to the Virgin Mary putting soot all over the statue, there was little study of the Black Madonnas for several decades. The Virgin of Montserrat is a statue of the Virgin Mary and infant Christ venerated at the Santa María de Montserrat monastery in the Montserrat Some theologians and historians still believe that all examples of dark coloring can be accounted for by the natural color of the wood used or by changes in color over time. They may add that a pale alabaster face was a post-medieval development. A counter-argument points to the apparently un-sooted bright colors of the clothing on some images with painted black face and hands.

Interest in studying Black Madonnas revived in the late 20th century. Scholars of comparative religion have suggested that Black Madonnas are descendants of pre-Christian mother or earth goddesses (Moss, Benko). Comparative religion is a field of Religious study that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes myths rituals and concepts among the world's religions Some have highlighted Isis as the key ancestor-goddess (Redd, McKinney-Johnson). Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners Psychologists have discussed the maternal and female archetypes from a Jungian perspective (Gustafson, Begg). Although these approaches have stimulated academic interest, there is no well-established consensus about medieval motives for carving or painting Black Madonnas.

A direct link between the Black Madonnas of the European Middle Ages and ancient pagan traditions and representations has been asserted typologically since direct historical and artistic influences cannot be proved. Although no direct Catholic theological sources are available, it has also been suggested by many authors that the medieval veneration of Black Madonnas was in response to a line from the Song of Songs 1:5 in the Old Testament: "I am black but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, . Catholic is an Adjective derived from the Greek adjective '' / 'katholikos' meaning "whole" or "complete". In Western Christianity, the Old Testament refers to the books that form the first of the two-part Christian Biblical canon. . . " or "Nigra sum sed formosa" in Latin, words discussed at length in the sermons of Bernard of Clairvaux. Bernard of Clairvaux, OCist ( 1090 - August 20, 1153) was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order Several surviving Black Madonnas are inscribed with these words, for example the figure from Tindari below; it is possible, however, that in some cases the inscriptions were added at a later date.

The revived interest, especially from feminist, neo-gnostic and neo-pagan writers and scholars, psychoanalysts and others in the 20th century, has led to various theories about the Black Madonnas. Feminism is a discourse that involves various movements theories, and Philosophies which are concerned with the issue of Gender difference, advocate Gnosticism (γνώσις gnōsis, Knowledge) refers to a diverse Syncretistic Religious movement consisting of various Belief systems Many of these link the images of the Black Madonna either with pre-Christian traditions, or with themes such as feminine power.

Monique Scheer approaches this topic from the perspective of symbolic anthropology. Symbolic anthropology (or more broadly symbolic and interpretive anthropology) is a diverse set of approaches within Cultural anthropology that view culture as a She believes that these statues and paintings came to be perceived as Black Madonnas after the Middle Ages, perhaps as part of a Counter-Reformation tendency to promote "the veneration of miraculous images of Mary". The Counter-Reformation (also Catholic Reformation denotes the period of Catholic revival from the pontificate of Pope Pius IV in 1560 to the close of the She discusses the "symbolic meanings communicated by the dark skin of the Madonna" rather than focussing on the origins of their colour, and suggests that these symbolic meanings have been different in different eras and contexts.

Many writers seeking to interpret the Black Madonnas suggest some combination of the following elements:

(left) A bronze statue of Isis nursing Horus from Ptolemaic Egypt; (right) A famous mediaeval icon of Mary and Jesus.
(left) A bronze statue of Isis nursing Horus from Ptolemaic Egypt; (right) A famous mediaeval icon of Mary and Jesus. The Ptolemaic dynasty (sometimes also known as the Lagids, from the name of Ptolemy I's father Lagus) was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family Our Mother of Perpetual Help (or of Succour) or Our Lady of Perpetual Help is a title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary, associated with a Byzantine

One 21st century suggestion which is devotional and not academic, and which illustrates Scheer's point about different eras and contexts, proposes that the black mother and child remind us of the under-privileged black people of the world, and the nurturing care offered to the infant symbolises Jesus' love for the poor and dispossessed. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE)

Black Madonnas in Europe

Tindari Madonna Bruna: restoration work in the 1990s found a medieval statue with later additions. Nigra sum sed formosa , meaning "I am black but beautiful" (from the Song of Songs, 1:5), is inscribed round a newer base.
Tindari Madonna Bruna: restoration work in the 1990s found a medieval statue with later additions. Tindari, anciently Tyndaris or Tyndarion ( Greek:, Strab;, Ptol Nigra sum sed formosa , meaning "I am black but beautiful" (from the Song of Songs, 1:5), is inscribed round a newer base.

Belgium

Croatia

France

Many sightings including:

La Vierge noire de Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat
La Vierge noire de Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat

Germany

Ireland

Italy

Luxembourg

Malta

Poland

Russia

Serbia

Spain

Switzerland

Black Madonnas or important replicas in the Americas

Brazil

Costa Rica

Mexico

Trinidad and Tobago

United States

Miscellanea

A Black Madonna is an important motif in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Siparia is a town in southern Trinidad, in Trinidad and Tobago, south of Penal and west of Fyzabad. The Black Madonna Shrine and Grotto is a Shrine located in the unincorporated area south of Pacific and Southwest of Eureka in the state of Missouri The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, known also as the American Czestochowa is a Polish-American Roman Catholic Shrine near Doylestown The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern In a Narrative, such as a novel or a film motifs are recurring structures contrasts or literary devices that can help to develop and inform the text’s major themes The Secret Life of Bees is a historical fiction 2002 bestselling novel by American author Sue Monk Kidd. She inspires spiritual strength in the female characters in the novel, and has been connected with "the solidarity of the divine mother with those who are oppressed", according to Jennie S. Knight. This Madonna is not of the specific European kind discussed above.

References

See also

External links

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa ( Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska in Polish, Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Kali redirects here See Kali (disambiguation for other uses Not to be confused with Kali (demon, the personification of Kali Yuga The Theotokos of Vladimir,( Greek Θεοτόκος του Βλαντιμίρ also known as Our Lady of Vladimir, the Virgin of Vladimir or Vladimirskaya Mariology is the theological study of Mary which methodically presents teachings about her to other parts of the faith such as teachings about Jesus Christ, redemption A canon (from the Latin canonicus, itself derived from the Greek κανωνικος 'relating to a rule' is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the
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