The icon "The Black Virgin", also known as the "Black Madonna", is one of the most revered in both the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
A distinctive feature of the miraculous image is the extremely dark or even black complexion of the Mother of God.
But where did such an unusual image come from?
For a long time, art critics adhered to the version according to which the dark complexion of the face and hands of a number of highly revered icons of the Mother of God was caused by nothing more than random reasons (for example, the soot from candles burning in churches and the venerable age of the images themselves).
However, all studies spoke only of the deliberate creation of black faces.
The very history of the origin of such an unusual icon is shrouded in many different legends.
Greek Andronikov icon of the black Mother of God, 19th century.
It is believed that the miraculous icon of the "Black Mother of God" was painted by the holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke himself.
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According to the famous Polish historian of the 15th century Jan Dlugosz (1415-1480), the first image of the "Black Mother of God" was created in Jerusalem not later than the 12th century, from where it was moved to Constantinople, then to Bulgaria, Czech Republic and eventually ended up in Russia.
Fragment of the icon of the Virgin with a black face. The beginning of the 18th century.
At the end of the 14th century, the icon ended up in Poland, accidentally taken over as a trophy of war by Prince Władysław Opolchik.
It is noteworthy that the overwhelming majority of the icons depict a scar on the face of the Mother of God.
The legend, recorded in 1524, tells the following: in 1430, several thieves robbed the monastery in which the icon was kept, but taking as much gold, silver and precious stones as they could take away, they did not stop, but continued to blaspheme.
One of the thieves struck the icon of the "Black Mother of God" with a sword and cut her face.
The blasphemer died on the spot, while others' hands soon dried up.
The damaged icon was shown to the Polish king Vladislav II Jagiello (better known in Russia as Jagiello), who ordered the court artists to restore the face of the saint.
but with each attempt to paint over the damage, new paint fell off, which was taken for a divine sign and no further attempts were made to correct the face of the Virgin.
Starting from the beginning of the 18th century, the icon of the "Black Mother of God" became especially revered in Russia (the creation of most of the copies belongs to the same period), but under a more consonant name - "The Czestochowa Icon of the Mother of God".
