Black Madonnas Essay Example for Free

Black bloody shames EssayAccording to Scheer Black Madonnas have went from majesty to mystery with the construct of race as a science toward the end of the 18th century. With this construct of race it begins to dramatically undermine the pious interpretations of the objects and images surrounding the Black Madonna. A common theme used is that the Madonnas became bleak unintentional, has greatly affected the depth into which the study of the Black Madonnas has gone. Michael P.Duricy gives three categories in which the Madonnas can be placed 1) Dark brown or nasty Madonnas with skin pigmentation matching that of the indigenous population. 2) Those that have turn black as a result of certain physical factors such as deterioration of lead-based paints, accumulated smoke from the use of votive candles and the accumulation of grime over the ages. The third and nett category is a residual category with no ready explanation. Charles Rohault de Fleury and Stephen Beissel support the s econd category that the images were blackened by the surround elements.There are deuce strong theories that if the Madonna was indeed intentionally darkened it was because the Madonna was to illustrate a text from the Canticle of Canticles or Song of Songs that said I am black but beautiful Stephen Benko summarizes the other theory as relating the Black Madonna to the ancient earth-goddess and then converted to Christianity. The most fertile soil is black in color and the blacker it is the more suited it is for agriculture.Scheer mentions that the ideas of pre-Christian beliefs are preserved in the folk culture of the Black Madonnas earth centered spiritualism at the helm of the hypothesis of the color choice of the Madonnas. Scheer says that there is no mention of color of the Madonnas only the recurrence in motifs of a miraculous find and the refused removal of the object or painting. Lastly, Scheer mentions that the votive tablets do not speak of when the images became black but when they were perceived Black.