Information AboutBlack Madonna |
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, Poland]] This name applies in particular to European statues or pictures of a Madonna which are of special interest because her dark face and hands seem to need explanation. In this specialised sense Black Madonna is not applicable to images of the Virgin Mary portrayed as explicitly African. (However, it can be argued that European Black Madonnas have their roots in African traditions. See below.) Some statues are made of ebony or other dark wood, but there is debate about whether this choice of material is significant. Other Madonnas were originally light-skinned but have become darkened over time, for example by candle soot. For a time this was thought to be the explanation for all medieval "black" images of Mary, but some commentators, starting with Leonard Moss in the 1950s, now think it is possible to divide European dark-skinned Madonnas into two groups: those whose faces have darkened over the centuries and those which have always been dark. Even those which are darkened through soot or other aging processes may be known as Black Madonnas and their "blackness" may be important to their devotees. Occasionally, a Madonna's face has been re-painted black after restoration had returned it to its original pale-skinned colouring. 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 . Most are an image of Mother and Child. Their faces have European features. There are about 450-500 Black Madonnas in Europe; this depends on how they are classified. There are at least 180 ''Vierges Noires'' in France. (There are hundreds of non-medieval copies too.) 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. THEORIES ABOUT THE BLACK MADONNAS After a late 19th/early 20th century theory that applied dark skin colour was due to chemical reactions in medieval paint, when it could not be explained by soot or other kinds of aging, there was little study of the Black Madonnas for several decades. Some theologians and historians still believe that all examples of dark colouring can be accounted for by the natural colour of the wood used or by changes in colour 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 colours of the clothing on some images with painted black face and hands. Interest in studying Black Madonnas was 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). Some have highlighted Isis as the key ancestor-goddess (Redd, McKinney-Johnson). 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. In the light of scholarly studies and of long-standing traditions, writers seeking to interpret the Black Madonnas tend to suggest some combination of the following elements:
Monique Scheer approaches this topic from the perspective of Symbolic Anthropology . 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". 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. For example, it may be suggested that The Madonna is black because Jesus loved and cared for poor people (represented here as "poor black people"). The artist may have identified, more or less unconsciously, with Jesus and created images of a "black saving Madonna" who gives her "African" child food, nursing, protection and Love . BLACK MADONNAS IN EUROPE Belgium Croatia Czech Republic England France
Germany
Ireland Italy
Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Poland
Portugal Romania Spain
Switzerland BLACK MADONNAS OR IMPORTANT REPLICAS IN THE AMERICAS Brazil Costa Rica
Ecuador Mexico USA FURTHER READING
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