Virgin of Mercy | |
|---|---|
 Sano di Pietro, 15th century; the Virgin shelters a group of nuns, including two novices with uncovered heads | |
| Mother of Mercy Madonna of Mercy, Our Lady of Mercy | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Feast | 24 September |
| Attributes | Virgin Mary, sheltering mantle |
| Patronage | Barcelona,Dominican Republic,Cuba,Paita |
TheVirgin of Mercy is a subject inChristian art, showing a group of people sheltering for protection under the outspread cloak, orpallium, of theVirgin Mary. It was especially popular in Italy from the 13th to 16th centuries, often as a specialised form ofvotive portrait; it is also found in other countries and later art, especiallySpain and Latin America.
Usually the Virgin is standing alone, though if angels hold up the cloak, she is free to hold the infant Christ. She is typically about twice the size of the other figures. The people sheltered normally kneel, and are of necessity shown usually at a much smaller scale. These may represent all members of Christian society, with royal crowns,mitres and apapal tiara in the front rows, or represent the local population. The subject was often commissioned by specific groups such as families, confraternities, guilds or convents or abbeys, and then the figures represent these specific groups, as shown by their dress, or by the 15th century individual portraits. Sometimes arrows rain down from above, which the cloak prevents from reaching the people.[1]
In Italian it is known as theMadonna della Misericordia (Madonna ofMercy), in German as theSchutzmantelmadonna (Sheltering-cloak Madonna), in Spanish as theVirgen de la Merced orNuestra Señora de la Misericordia (Virgin of Mercy), in French as theNotre-Dame de la Merci (Our Lady of Mercy), in Polish as theMatka Boża Miłosierdzia (Mother of God of Mercy), in Portuguese as theNossa Senhora das Mercês, in Catalan as theMare de Déu de la Mercè and in Greek as theΠαναγιά του ἐλέους.
Probably the oldest version known is a small panel byDuccio of c. 1280, with threeFranciscan friars under the cloak, in the Pinacoteca inSiena. Here the Virgin sits, only one side of the cloak is extended, and the Virgin holds her child on her knee with her other hand.
A miniature of c. 1274 from theArmenian Kingdom of Cilicia also shows a variant of the motif, as do 13th century paintings inCyprus, such as an icon in the Byzantine Museum in theArchbishop's Palace, Nicosia.[2]
The common factor between all these is the influence and presence of Westernmendicant orders, especially the Franciscans, who appear to have been important in spreading this form oficonography.[3]
The immediate inspiration of the iconography comes from a vision reported in theDialogus Miraculorum of theCistercianCaesarius of Heisterbach which circulated widely from about 1230.[4] Beyond that, the origins of the image may relate to rituals and a vision or miracle connected with a famous icon in theBlachernae Church inConstantinople.[5]
This gave rise in theByzantine Rite (Eastern Orthodox andEastern Catholic Churches) to thePokrov icons, although the image is not found inByzantine art. In the Pokrov icons the thought is similar, but the image is usually less literal – the veil with which the Virgin protects mankind is small and held either in her hands or by two angels,[6] though the Western version with a larger cloak is found in some Eastern Orthodox icons, one of a number of Western iconographic features that influenced Orthodox art, whether inCyprus under theCrusaders[7] or 16th-century Eastern Europe.
The image also fits well with the words of the ancient hymnSub tuum praesidium, probably composed in the 3rd century, and used in most pre-Reformation churches of both the Western and Eastern churches.
Usually the image, whether in sculpture or painting, stands by itself. Nevertheless, in the most famous example, theMadonna della Misericordia altarpiece (1445–1462) inSansepolcro byPiero della Francesca, the subject is the central panel of a largealtarpiece, with a smaller Crucifixion above it, and many other panels.
The image came in for special derision fromMartin Luther, who compared it to "a hen with her chicks".[8]
In the SpanishThe Virgin of the Navigators of the 1530s, where those sheltered are a group connected with the Spanish voyages to theNew World, including American indigenous peoples, the group is shown over a panorama of ships at rest in a harbour.
In Germany during the Middle Ages, an almost identical image was used featuringSaint Ursula, usually holding herattribute of an arrow to avoid confusion.[9]
In this pictorial tradition, also the iconography of theWorks of mercy alludes sometimes to the Virgin of Mercy, such asCaravaggio in his hugepainting in Naples, because in 1606/07 it was commissioned for the church of the Confraternita del Pio Monte della Misericordia.[10]
Theliturgical feast day ofOur Lady ofMercy is celebrated annually in theGeneral Roman Calendar onSeptember 24.
Our Lady of Mercy is the co-patroness, along withSt. Mark, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida.[11]
Churches dedicated to her include the cathedral ofGuasdualito inVenezuela and the National Shrine of La Virgen de las Mercedes, also known as "El Santo Cerro" inLa Vega, Dominican Republic.[12]
The term "Virgin of Mercy" is found in a number of other contexts not directly related to the image. It is a common translation of theEleusa type of icon of the Virgin and Child.
The Virgin of Mercy is patron saint of Barcelona, celebrated in the week-longLa Mercè festival each year, but in this role is not especially associated with this type of image. TheOrder of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, founded, also in Barcelona, in 1218 by SaintPeter Nolasco, has used the image but is not particularly associated with it.
InSantería, the Virgin of Mercy issyncretized withObatala.
Media related toOur Lady of Mercy at Wikimedia Commons
