Browse Black Madonnas
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Bologna
According to tradition, the Black Madonna of St. Luke in Bologna was painted by St. Luke the evangelist and brought to Italy from Constantinople in the 5th century, then painted over in the 12th century. Her sanctuary was founded by a woman.
Cagliari, Sardinia
A Papal Bull of Pius XII from 3/24/1957 confirms that all three statues, which St. Eusebius (a native son of Cagliari) brought to Italy were Black Madonnas…
Caltabellotta
This is a story about Jesus and Mary and about an attempt at equality. It started with the crucified black Jesus in the photo above. He used to hang in the beautiful 11th century Chiesa Madre…
Manfredonia/Siponto
In the cathedral of Manfredonia there are two important images of Mary. It seems that together they were brought to Siponto from Constantinopel in the 5th century by the first bishop of Siponto, Lorenzo Maiorano…
Monte Civita
A lovely story is told of how this icon miraculously escaped the iconoclastic destructions of the 8th century in the Byzantine empire…
Monte Viggiano
Here we have yet another formerly Black Madonna who has been restored to her original pigmentation…
Montevergine
This is one of quite a few Black Madonnas that are attributed to Luke the Evangelist…
Padua
There are two Black Madonnas in the sanctuary of St. Anthony of Padua. One was whitened in spite of more than 800 years of tradition venerating a Black Madonna with a strong connection to St. Anthony and proof existing that both Madonnas were conceived as Black from the start. Our Mother’s black skin was stolen, because too many people found her more beautiful with white skin: a racist mutilation!
Pescasseroli, Abruzzo
Stories as to where Our Lady came from vary greatly. Some say she was brought by a monk, others by a shepherd…
Piazza Armerina
Local tradition, as recounted by the historian Armerino Charanda, attributes this icon to the hand of St. Luke the Evangelist.
San Severo
In 1564 the order of Augustinian monks brought this Black Madonna to San Severo from Sicily. Nobody knows how old she was at that point…
Serralunga di Crea
According to Ean Begg and others, this is a Black Madonna. She was recently whitened, but she was never real dark, only “olive-brown” in Ean Begg’s description…
Turin
Our Lady of Consolation in Turin, Italy, reputedly painted by St. Luke the Evangelist, likely a formerly Black Madonna like so many others attributed to him and associated with the Augustinian order. She had to be hidden from her enemies in the earth twice but always made sure she was found again. Very miraculous.
