The Black Madonna of Czestochowa (Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Czestochowska in Polish) is a holy icon of the Virgin Mary, that is both Poland's holiest relic and one of the country's national symbols.
The origins of the icon and the date of its composition are still hotly contested among scholars. The difficulty in dating the icon stems from the fact that the original image was painted over after being badly damaged by Hussite raiders in 1430. Medieval restorers unfamiliar with the encaustic method found that the paints they applied to the damaged areas "simply sloughed off the image" according to the medieval chronicler Risinius, and their solution was to erase the original image and to repaint it on the original panel, which was believed to be holy because of its legendary origin as a table top from the home of the Holy Family. The painting displays a traditional composition well-known in the icons of Eastern Orthodoxy. The Virgin Mary is shown as the "Hodegetria" ("One Who Shows the Way"). In it the Virgin directs attention away from herself, gesturing toward Jesus as the source of salvation.
The Black Madonna is credited with miraculously saving the monastery of Jasna Góra from a 17th century Swedish invasion, which actually changed the course of the war. This event led King Jan Kazimierz to "crown" Our Lady of Czestochowa as Queen and Protector of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1, 1656.
...taken in front of a billboard on Jubilat, announcing the forthcoming Madonna concert in Warsaw...
Krakow, Poland...
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