A Black Madonna or Black Virgin is a statue or painting of Mary in which she is depicted with dark skin, especially those created in Europe in the medieval period or earlier. The Black Madonnas are generally found in Catholic areas. The term refers to a type of Marian statue or painting of mainly medieval origin (12C-15C), with dark or black features whose exact origins are not always easy to determine.[1] The statues are mostly wooden but occasionally stone, often painted and up to 75 cm tall. They fall into two main groups: free-standing upright figures and seated figures on a throne. The pictures are usually icons which are Byzantine in style, often made in 13th or 14th century Italy. 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 as well. Some are in museums, but most are in churches or shrines and are venerated by devotees. A few are associated with miracles and attract substantial numbers of pilgrims.
Important early studies of dark images in France were done by: Marie Durand-Lefebvre (1937); Emile Saillens (1945); and Jacques Huynen (1972). The first notable study of the origin and meaning of the so-called Black Madonnas in English appears to have been presented by Leonard Moss at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Dec. 28, 1952. Moss broke the images into three categories: 1) dark brown or black madonnas with physiognomy and skin pigmentation matching that of the indigenous population; 2) various art forms that have turned black as a result of certain physical factors such as: deterioration of lead-based pigments; accumulated smoke from the use of votive candles; and accumulation of grime over the ages, and 3) residual category with no ready explanation.[1]
List of Black Madonnas [edit]
Europe [edit]
Belgium [edit]
La Vierge Noire d'Outremeuse Procession
Croatia [edit]
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.
- Marija Bistrica: Our Lady of Bistrica, Queen of Croatia
France [edit]
- Aix-en-Provence, (Bouches-du-Rhône): Notre-Dame des Graces, Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix
- Arbois (Jura)
- Arceau (Côte-d'Or)
- Arconsat (Puy-de-Dôme)
- Arfeuilles (Allier) : statue of the 13th Century
- Aurillac, (Cantal): Notre-Dame des Neiges
- Avioth (Meuse)
- Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise (Puy-de-Dôme) : Saint-André Church, Notre-Dame de Vassivière
- Besson (Allier) : statue of the 12th Century
- Boëge (Haute-Savoie) : Notre-Dame-des-Voirons Chapel
- Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) : 13th Century
- Chartres (Eure-et-Loir): crypt of the Cathedral of Chartres [4]
- Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) [5]
- Dijon (Côte-d'Or)
- Chantemerle-les-Blés, Drôme
- Dunkerque (Nord) : Chapelle des Dunes
- Guingamp (Côtes-d'Armor) : Basilica of Notre Dame de Bon Secours.
- La Chapelle-Geneste (Haute-Loire: Notre Dame de La Chapelle Geneste
- Laon (Aisne) : Notre-Dame Cathedral, statue of 1848
- Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) : statue near the Graville Abbey (Abbaye de Graville)
- Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) : Notre-Dame du Puy-en-Velay [7][8][9]
- Liesse-Notre-Dame (Aisne) : Notre-Dame de Liesse, statue destroyed in 1793, copy of 1857
- Lyon (Rhône) : Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière
- Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône): Notre-Dame-de-Confession, Abbey of St. Victor ; Notre-Dame d'Huveaune, Saint-Giniez Church
- Mauriac, Cantal: Notre Dame des Miracles
- Mende (Lozère) : Cathedral (Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Privat de Mende)
- Menton (Alpes-Maritimes) : St. Michel Church
- Meymac (Corrèze) [11]
- Montmerle-sur-Saône (Ain) : bronze Madonna
- Myans (Savoie)
- Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine): Notre Dame de Bonne Délivrance, formerly located at Saint-Étienne-des-Grès in Paris
- Quimper (Finistère) : Eglise de Guéodet, nommée encore Notre-Dame-de-la-Cité
- Riom,(Puy-de-Dôme): Notre-Dame du Marthuret
- Rocamadour (Lot) : Our Lady of Rocamadour [13]
- Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat (Alpes-Maritimes)
- Seyssel (Haute-Savoie)
- Soissons (Aisne) : statue of the 12th Century
- Tarascon, (Bouches-du-Rhône): Notre-Dame du Château
- Thuret (Puy-de-Dôme) [15]
- Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) : Notre-Dame de la Daurade
- Vaison-la-Romaine (Vaucluse) : statue on a hill
- Vézelay (Yonne)
- Vichy (Allier) : Saint-Blaise Church
Germany [edit]
Ireland [edit]
- Naples (Campania) : Santuario-Basilica SS Carmine Maggiore
- Biella (Piedmont) : Black Virgin of Oropa, Sacro Monte di Oropa
- Canneto Valley near Settefrati (Lazio) : Madonna di Canneto
- Casale Monferrato (Piedmont) : Our Lady of Crea. In the hillside Sanctuary at Crea (Santuario di Crea), a cedar-wood figure, said to be one of three Black Virgins brought to Italy from the Holy Land c345 by St. Eusebius.
- Castelmonte, Prepotto (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
- Positano (Campania) : Located in the church of Santa Maria Assunta, the story of how it got there - sailors shouting "Posa, posa!" ("Put it down, put it down!") - gave the town its name.
- San Severo (Apulia) : "La Madonna del Soccorso" (The Madonna of Succor), St. Severinus Abbot and Saint Severus Bishop Faeto. Statue in gold garments, object of a major 3 day festival that attracts over 350,000 people to this small town. The infant Jesus is white.
- Tindari (Sicily) : Our Lady of Tindari
- Venice (Veneto) : Madonna della Salute, Santa Maria della Salute
- Viggiano (Basilicata)
- Seminara (Calabria) : Madonna near di seminara, Maria SS.Dei poveri
Serbia,Kosovo [edit]
Luxembourg [edit]
Lithuania [edit]
Macedonia [edit]
- Kališta, Monastery : Madonna icon in the Nativity of Our Most Holy Mother of God church
- Ħamrun : a medieval painting of a Black Madonna rests in a small church, with the church being possibly the oldest one in the area, originally built in honor of St. Nicholas. Brought to Malta by a merchant in the year 1630, the painting is of a statue found in Atocha, a parish in Madrid, Spain, and is widely known as Il-Madonna tas-Samra. (This can mean 'tanned Madonna', 'brown Madonna', or 'Madonna of Samaria'). She may also be called Madonna ta' Atoċja, corresponding to the Spanish Nuestra Señora de Atocha. There were celebrations in 2005, the painting's 375th year in Malta.
Poland [edit]
Portugal [edit]
Russia [edit]
Serbia [edit]
Slovenia [edit]
Switzerland [edit]
Ukraine [edit]
Turkey [edit]
Three icons portraying the Theotokos with black skin survived in Turkey to the present-day. One of which is housed in the church of Halki theological seminary.
The Americas [edit]
Brazil [edit]
Costa Rica [edit]
Trinidad and Tobago [edit]
United States [edit]
The Philippines [edit]
- Antipolo (Rizal) : Nuestra Señora de la Paz y Buen Viaje de Antipolo (Our Lady of Peace and Good Voyage, of Antipolo)
- Ermita, Manila (Metro Manila) : Nuestra Señora de Guia (Our Lady of Guidance)
- Lapu-Lapu (Cebu) : Nuestra Señora de la Regla (Our Lady of the Rule)
- Loboc (Bohol) : Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe)
- Piat (Cagayan) : Nuestra Señora de la Visitacion de Piat (Our Lady of the Visitation, of Piat)
- Trololololo
The madonna as reflecting ancient cults [edit]
According to Stephen Benko, "the Black Madonna is the ancient earth-goddess converted to Christianity." His argument begins by noting that many goddesses were pictured as black, among them Artemis of Ephesus, Isis, Ceres, and others. Ceres, the Roman goddess of agricultural fertility, is particularly important. Her Greek equivalent is Demeter, Earth Mother. The best fertile soil is black in color and the blacker it is, the more suited it is for agriculture.[1]
See also [edit]
References [edit]
Sources [edit]
External links [edit]
