This article accompanies the fable
Dreaming the Virgin Mary



The Dark Madonnas

There are hundreds of Dark Madonnas all over Catholic Europe, from Portugal to Poland, and a debate rages to this day about why they are so clearly Black. Some see them as echoes of a pre-Christian and pagan era, as if she is an incarnation of the Egyptian goddess Isis with her child Horus in her arms. Others prefer the explanation that until medieval times, the Virgin Mary was assumed to have Semitic features. After all, it is not so strange to think that over the centuries Jesus and Mary got whiter and whiter. But there at least a dozen other explanations.

The story is also entwined with Mary Magdalene and Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer - here

Arguably the most famous Dark Madonnas are in the Cathedral of Le Puy-en-Velay, which was a major pilgrimage site from the early Middle Ages. The originals were burnt during the French Revolution and today they show replicas.

At Santa Maria de Montserrat just west of Barcelona in Catalonia is the other most famous Dark Madonna, "La Moreneta" (The Black Virgin):

Montserrat Monastery is shown below. Heinrich Himmler is said to have believed that Montserrat was the Castle Montsalvat of the Holy Grail legend and he made a secret trip there during World War II.

It is reassuring that an otherwise White culture should venerate her as the patron saint of Catalonia and other such places. Of course many of these Dark Madonnas are hidden away in church vaults, while it's the newer White Madonnas that go on display.

At Chartres you can see the range: a White Madonna sculpture sits behind the altar and their famous Dark Madonna, Notre Dame Sous Terre (Our Lady Underground), is below in the crypt - it too is a replica after the original was destroyed in the French Revolution. Another Dark Madonna sits above ground - it is known as Our Lady of the Pillar (after the more famous original in Zaragoza, Spain):

Link: Mexico's Virgin of Guadalupe also is considered to be a Dark Madonna.