Black Madonna of Czestochowa

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Reconstructed image of the Black Madonna of Czestochowa (15th century)

The Black Madonna of Czestochowa ( Polish Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska even Obraz Matki Boskiej Częstochowskiej , lat. Imago thaumaturga Beatae Virginis Mariae Immaculatae Conceptae in Claro Monte , Church Slavonic Ченстоховская икона Божией Матери ) is a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary , which in Poland as national symbol is revered, at the same time represents the holiest relic of the country and serves as a destination for pilgrimages . The Black Madonnawhich corresponds to the Byzantine icon type of the Hodegetria , has been in the Jasna Góra monastery for six centuries .

Description and art-historical aspects

The image of Mary, painted in tempera on a wooden panel made of lime wood , is 122.2 × 82.2 × 3.5 cm in size. Iconographically it belongs to the Hodegetria type , in which the Mother of God and the baby Jesus are shown sitting upright and the mother points with her right hand to the child sitting on her left arm. Another characteristic of the Hodegetria type is the scroll or, as in the case of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, a bound Bible in Jesus' left hand, which identifies him as the Incarnate Word of God . His right hand is raised to a sign of blessing . In the portrait Mary wears a dark robe and a cloak with golden lily motifs , which are a symbol of Mary's virginity. A six-pointed star emblazoned above her forehead on the hood part of her coat. Jesus wears a red robe, also with gold stylized flower patterns. The heads of Jesus and Mary are surrounded by a gold-plated halo . The picture has a blue-green background. On special occasions, the picture is adorned with jeweled dresses and gold crowns. The faces of Mary and Jesus are dark, almost black in color. Deep cuts can be seen on Maria's right cheek.

The original miraculous image is probably of Byzantine origin and must have been painted sometime between the 6th and 14th centuries. It was completely repainted in 1433 after it was destroyed in an attack by Protestant Hussites in April 1430 . The original wooden panel was used because, according to legend, it was made from the table of the holy family. As a result of the restoration, Byzantine iconography was mixed with the stylistic means of European art of the 15th century.

Legends and history

There are numerous legends surrounding the Black Madonna of Częstochowa. So it should be based on an image that St. Luke is said to have painted the holy family on a cypress table . This picture is said to be of St. Helena to Constantine the Great in Constantinople . In the 14th century, the picture is said to have come to Eastern Europe as the dowry of a Byzantine princess. According to legend, Prince Ladislaus of Poland wanted to bring it from Bełz to Upper Silesia in 1382 after a Tatar attack that damaged the portrait of Our Lady on the neck . At Jasna Góra , the carriage horses refused to work, which was seen as a sign that the picture should be brought to the monastery there. When the monastery was attacked during the Hussite Wars in Silesia, the Hussite horses are said to have refused to take the picture of Jasna Góra away.

Legend has it that after a soldier damaged the painting twice with a saber, he was struck by lightning. The resulting blows could not be painted over, as the color ran over and over again. In fact, on April 14, 1430, the monastery was raided by Hussites and the painting was badly damaged. The looters tore the picture from the altar, robbed it of all valuable treasures, struck the Madonna in the face with the sword and threw the picture on the floor, where the wooden panel broke into three parts. Then it was supposed to be restored at the royal court in Krakow , which initially did not succeed because the restorers tried to apply tempera paints to a picture of the encaustic . Therefore, the wax was removed and a true copy of the picture was created. The marks of the sword blows were scratched in memory. The desecration of the image subsequently increased the fame of the image of grace.

According to legend, the Black Madonna of Częstochowa intervened during the siege of Jasna Góra by the Swedes in 1655 and protected the monastery. The Black Madonna of Częstochowa was symbolically crowned Queen of Poland by King John II Casimir a year later .

In 1979 Pope John Paul II visited the painting in Jasna Góra. Millions of pilgrims from all over the world go to the Black Madonna of Częstochowa every year; special pilgrimages take place in July and around the solemnity of the Assumption in August. The Black Madonna, which can be seen at pilgrimage masses in the monastery church, is regularly dressed in new robes . These are handcrafted from the valuable materials that the pilgrims bring with them as gifts.

Copies and reception

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa has inspired many literary and musical works. In recent times have Black Madonna , among others, Henryk Górecki and Sir Andrzej Panufnik dedicated their compositions.

There are also numerous copies of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa in the Orthodox churches . Polish immigrants and missionaries brought pictures to Haiti , where portraits of the voodoo deity Ezili Dantor are often decorated with iconographic details of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa.

Web links

literature

  • Jarosław Charkiewicz: Tobą raduje się całe stworzenie . Ikonografia Matki Bożej w prawosławiu. Warszawa: Warszawska Metropolia Prawosławna, 2009. ISBN 978-83-60311-30-1 .
  • Werner Kunzenmann : Czestochowa. Jasna Góra Cze̜stochowa. The pilgrimage to the Black Madonna on the Hellen Berge . Veritas-Verlag, Linz u. a. 1983, ISBN 3-85329-365-4 .
  • Marian Jastrzębiec: W obronie czci Jasnogóry . Poznań: Polsko-Katolicka Księgarnia Nakładowa Z. Rzepeckiego i S-ki, 1911. OCLC 69356164 .
  • Wojciech Kurpik: Częstochowska Hodegetria . Wydawnictwo Bernardinum, 2008, p. 302. ISBN 83-916539-2-7 .
  • Leonard W. Moss: In Quest of the Black Virgin, in: James Preston (ed.): Mother Worship - Themes and Variations, 1982, pp. 53-74.
  • Janusz Pasierb: The Shrine of the Black Madonna at Częstochowa, 1989.
  • Wojciech Kurpik : Częstochowska Hodegetria, 2008.
  • Православный Календарь days.ru. Orthodox calendar (russ.)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jasna Gora Monastery, Częstochowa (English)
  2. ↑ Janusz Pasierb, Jan Samek and Kazimierz Szafraniec: The Art Treasures of the Jasna Góra Monastery , Rosenheim 1977, p. 7f.
  3. ↑ Janusz Pasierb, Jan Samek and Kazimierz Szafraniec: The Art Treasures of the Jasna Góra Monastery , Rosenheim 1977, pp. 8, 13.