Guadalupe - The Black Madonna

In Guadalupe, in the Extremadura section toward the west, is a lovely old cathedral with a Black Madonna, very small in size and said to have been carved by St. Luke - found in 1325, buried. The explanation for the dark skin is the length of time buried, but many other black madonnas were not buried, not scorched, and still are black. See picture at www.solt3.org/guadalupespain.

The guidebook there does not mention the color, but internet sites tracking and mapping the black madonnas give more detail. Broad spectrum of approaches - see, for example, saxakali.com/suzar/madonna; and altreligion.about.com/library/bl_blackvirgins, and en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Madonna. No pictures were permitted - we wish we had.

The figure is triangular, small head, stiff triangle shape robes. See her at your own Images search for Guadalupe Black Madonna, or at ://sacredsites.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=117. Read some background of the black madonnas at ://www.womenreligious.org/~education/Mariology3/Read/Readings_3/BlackMadonna.htm