Artistic depiction of the Virgin Mary and Jesus
Black Madonna of Outremeuse,
Liège, in a procession
Madonna at House of the Black Madonna, Prague
The term Black Madonna or Black Virgin tends to refer to statues or paintings in Western Christendom of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Infant Jesus, where both figures are depicted with dark skin.[1] The Black Madonna can be found both in Catholic and Orthodox countries.
The paintings are usually icons which are Byzantine in origin or style, some of which were produced in 13th- or 14th-century Italy. Other examples from the Middle East, Caucasus or Africa, mainly Egypt and Ethiopia, are even older.[citation needed] Statues are often made of wood but occasionally made of stone, painted, and up to 75 cm (30 in) tall. They fall into two main groups: free-standing upright figures or seated figures on a throne. There are about 400–500 Black Madonnas in Europe, depending on how they are classified. There are at least 180 Vierges Noires in Southern France alone, 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 believers. Some are associated with miracles and attract substantial numbers of pilgrims.
Black Madonnas come in different forms, and the speculations behind the reason for the dark hue of each individual icon or statue vary greatly and are not without controversy. Though some Madonnas were originally black or brown when they were made, others have simply turned darker due to factors like aging or candle smoke. Jungian scholar Ean Begg has conducted a study into the potential pagan origins of the cult of the black Madonna and child.[2] Another speculated cause for the dark-skinned depiction is due to pre-Christian deities being re-envisioned as the Madonna and child.[3]
Studies and research
Research into the Black Madonna phenomenon is limited. Begg links the refrain from the Song of Solomon, ‘I am black, but I am beautiful’ to the Queen of Sheba.[2] Recently, however, interest in this subject has gathered more momentum.
Important early studies of dark-skinned holy images in France were by Camille Flammarion (1888),[4] Marie Durand-Lefebvre (1937), Emile Saillens (1945), and Jacques Huynen (1972). The first notable study of the origin and meaning of the 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 December 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][5]
In the cathedral at Chartres, there were two Black Madonnas: Notre Dame de Pilar, a 1508 dark walnut copy of a 13th-century silver Madonna, standing atop a high pillar, surrounded by candles; and Notre Dame de Sous-Terre, a replica of an original destroyed during the French Revolution. Restoration work on the cathedral resulted in the painting of Notre Dame de Pilar, to reflect an earlier 19th-century painted style, rendering the statue no longer a "Black Madonna".[6][7]
Some scholars chose to investigate the significance of the dark-skinned complexion to pilgrims and worshipers rather than focusing on whether this depiction was intentional. By virtue of their presence, many Black Madonnas turn the shrines in which they are housed into revered pilgrimage sites. Monique Scheer attributes the importance of the dark-skinned depiction to its connection with authenticity. The reason for this connection is the perceived age of the figures.[8]
List of Black Madonnas
Africa
Our Lady of Guidance, Manila
Asia
Japan
Black Madonna at Catholic Tsuruoka Church, Japan
- Tsuruoka city, Yamagata prefecture: Tsuruoka Tenshudô Catholic Church features a black Madonna statue given by France during Meiji period[12]
The Philippines
Our Lady of the Rule of Opon in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu, Philippines
India
Turkey
- Trabzon: Sümela Monastery[16]
Europe
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Czech Republic
France
Black Madonna of Toulouse
- Aix-en-Provence, (Bouches-du-Rhône): Notre-Dame des Graces, Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix[20]
- Arconsat: (Notre-Dame des Champs)
- Aurillac, (Cantal): Notre-Dame des Neiges[21]
- Beaune: Our Lady of Beaune
- Besançon: Our Lady de Gray
- Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, (Puy-de-Dôme): Saint-André Church, Notre-Dame de Vassivière
- Bourg-en-Bresse, (Ain): 13th century
- Chartres, (Eure-et-Loir): crypt of the Cathedral of Chartres, Notre-Dame-de-Sous-Terre[22]
- Clermont-Ferrand, (Puy-de-Dôme)[23]
- Cusset: the Black Virgin of Cusset
- Dijon, (Côte-d'Or): Church of Notre-Dame of Dijon
- Douvres-la-Délivrande, Basilique Notre-Dame de la Délivrande, "Notre-Dame de la Délivrande"[24]
- 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[25]
- Laon, (Aisne): Notre-Dame Cathedral, statue of 1848
- Le Havre,(Seine-Maritime): statue near the Graville Abbey (Abbaye de Graville)
- Le Puy-en-Velay: In 1254 when passing through on his return from the Holy Land Saint Louis IX of France gave the cathedral an ebony image of the Blessed Virgin clothed in gold brocade (Notre-Dame du Puy). It was destroyed during the Revolution, but replaced at the Restoration with a copy that continues to be venerated.[26]
- Liesse-Notre-Dame, (Aisne): Notre-Dame de Liesse, statue destroyed in 1793, copy of 1857
- Marseille, (Bouches-du-Rhône): Notre-Dame-de-Confession,[27] Abbey of St. Victor; Notre-Dame d'Huveaune, Saint-Giniez Church
- Mauriac, Cantal: Notre Dame des Miracles[28]
- Mende, (Lozère) : Cathedral (Basilique-cathédrale Notre-Dame-et-Saint-Privat de Mende)
- Menton, (Alpes-Maritimes): St. Michel Church
- Meymac, (Corrèze): Meymac Abbey[29]
- Molompize: Notre-Dame de Vauclair
- Mont-Saint-Michel: Notre-Dame du Mont-Tombe
- Myans, (Savoie): Sanctuaire Notre-Dame de Myans
- Paris, (Neuilly-sur-Seine): Notre-Dame de Bonne Délivrance, in the motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Thomas of Villanova[30]
- Quimper, (Finistère): Eglise de Guéodet, nommée encore Notre-Dame-de-la-Cité
- Riom, (Puy-de-Dôme): Notre-Dame du Marthuret[31]
- Rocamadour, (Lot): Our Lady of Rocamadour[32]
- Sainte Marie (Réunion) : Black Virgin of the Rains River [fr]
- Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Camarque) Avignon: Annual Roma pilgrimage and festival[33] celebrating Sara, the patron saint of the Roma[34]
- Soissons (Aisne): statue of the 12th century
- Tarascon, (Bouches-du-Rhône): Notre-Dame du Château[35]
- Thuret, (Puy-de-Dôme)[36]
- Toulouse: The basilica Notre-Dame de la Daurade in Toulouse, France had housed the shrine of a Black Madonna. The original icon was stolen in the fifteenth century, and its first replacement was burned by Revolutionaries in 1799 on the Place du Capitole. The icon presented today is an 1807 copy of the fifteenth century Madonna. Blackened by the hosts of candles, the second Madonna was known from the sixteenth century as Our Lady La Noire[37]
- Tournemire, Château d'Anjony, Our Lady of Anjony
- Vaison-la-Romaine, (Vaucluse): statue on a hill
- Vichy, (Allier): Saint-Blaise Church
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
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.
- Biella (Piedmont): Black Virgin of Oropa, sanctuary of 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 c. 345 by St. Eusebius.
- Castelmonte, Prepotto (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
- Gubbio, Italy: The Niger-Regin square, discovered carved in the cave of Sibilla Eugubina on Mount Ingino, is considered to be a word square form the "Black Queen". Seemingly of Neo-Templar origin, it is dated between 1600–1800 CE, was discovered in 2003, and destroyed by vandalism in 2012.[38][39][40]
Kosovo
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
- Kališta, Monastery: Madonna icon in the Nativity of Our Most Holy Mother of God church
- Ohrid, Church: Madonna with the child
Malta
- Ħamrun: Our Lady of Atoċja, a medieval painting brought to Malta by a merchant in the year 1630, depicting a statue found in Atocha, a parish in Madrid, Spain, and widely known as Il-Madonna tas-Samra. (This can mean 'tanned Madonna', 'brown Madonna', or 'Madonna of Samaria'.)
Poland
Portugal
Romania
- Ghighiu [ro]: Maica Domnului Siriaca – Manastirea Ghighiu [ro]
- Cacica: Madona Neagra – Biserica Cacica
- Bucuresti: Madona Neagra – Biserica Dichiu
Russia
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
- Lunds Domkyrka Lund Cathedral Attached to a marble pillar in the crypt: Black madonna with child
- Skee Kyrka Bohuslän former Norwegian and Danish province. Black madonna with beheaded child [1]
Switzerland
Ukraine
- Tsarytsya Karpat (Hoshiv Monastery): The Queen of the Carpathian Land
United Kingdom
North America
Costa Rica
Cuba
Mexico
Trinidad and Tobago
United States
South America
Brazil
Chile