Black Madonna

Important early studies of dark-skinned holy images in France were by Camille Flammarion (1888),[4] Marie Durand-Lefebvre (1937), Emile Saillens (1945), and Jacques Huynen (1972).

The first notable study in English of the origin and meaning of the Black Madonnas appears to have been presented by Leonard Moss at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on December 28, 1952.

Moss divided the images into three categories: (1) dark brown or black Madonnas with physiognomy and skin pigmentation matching that of the indigenous population; (2) various art forms that have turned black as a result of certain physical factors such as deterioration of lead-based pigments, accumulated smoke from the use of votive candles, and accumulation of grime over the ages, and (3) miracle-worker Madonnas, the focus of the study, Black Madonnas found in areas of a Roman legion and, therefore, not a reflection of the current population's skin colour.

[3] In the cathedral at Chartres, there were two Black Madonnas: Notre Dame de Pilar, a 1508 dark walnut copy of a 13th-century silver Madonna, standing atop a high pillar, surrounded by candles; and Notre Dame de Sous-Terre, a replica of an original destroyed during the French Revolution.

[7] TROJA CHATEAU chapel- original "Montserrat Madonna" from Old Town Byzantine building (pg.100 of Martin Krummholz ISBN 978-80-7010-131-5)

The Black Madonna of Częstochowa , Poland
Black Madonna of Outremeuse, Liège , in a procession
Black Madonna of Guingamp
Madonna at House of the Black Madonna, Prague
Black Madonna at Tsuraoka Catholic Church, Yamagata, Japan
Our Lady of the Rule of Opón, Lapu-lapu City, Cebu
Our Lady of Guidance, Ermita, Manila
Marija Bistrica
Madonna of Saint-Jouan-des-Guérets (35)
Vierge noire de Graville ( Le Havre )
The statue of the Black Virgin at Rocamadour
Black Madonna of Toulouse
Shrine of Our Lady of Altötting , Altötting : Gnadenkapelle
Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Cathedral Basilica of Eger , Hungary
Tindari Madonna Bruna: restoration work in the 1990s found a medieval statue with later additions. Nigra sum sed formosa , meaning "I am black but beautiful" (from the Song of Songs , 1:5), is inscribed round a newer base.
Street performer in Black Madonna costume in Venice
Our Lady of the Pine Woods Lithuania
Icon of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa , covered in a decorative silver shield, at the Jasna Góra Monastery in Poland
Serbian Orthodox Three-handed Black Madonna , Serbian Orthodox Hilandar . Serbia
Image of the Virgin of Candelaria , in the Basilica of Candelaria ( Tenerife )
One of three of Turkey 's surviving icons of the Theotokos on the island of Heybeliada at the Theological School of Halki
Nossa Senhora Aparecida