In the basilica of the Jasna Gora monastery in Czestochowa, 6th - 14th century (?) 122.2x82.2x3.5 cm

Tradition says the Black Madonna of Czestochowa was painted by Luke right onto the kitchen table of the Holy family, which Jesus had made, with Mary sitting as the model. The image was hidden during the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and rediscovered in 326 C.E. by St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantin. She had a church built for it in Constantinople. There it was venerated until the iconoclastic controversy broke out in the 8th century (see introduction). One story claims that the wife of the emperor who ordered the painting burnt, hid it away. It was eventually taken to the forest of Belsk in Poland. When Our Lady wasn’t safe there anymore an angel told the Prince of Belsk in a dream to take her to Czestochowa, where the monks of St. Paul of the Desert would guard it. And so it has been. (Other accounts trace the image’s journey through other royal hands.)…(http://www.interfaithmarianpilgrimages.com/pages/Czestochowa.htm)

danielsalas:

Black Madonna of Czestochowa again, cuz I like her. Those aren’t tears; they’re scars. But not scars on Mary per se, but rather symbolic scars representing (among other things) where the original Czestochowa icon was damaged by Hussites. So basically this is an icon of an icon. Polish Mariology is postmodern as fuuuuuck.

shenenehjenkins:

why is Mary crying?

(via savage-america)