Pilgrimage to Images in the Fifteenth Century: The Origins of the Cult of Our Lady of Czestochowa

Abstract

Throughout Christian history large numbers of people have made journeys to images associated with miracles, yet the phenomenon has never been a subject of detailed scholarly scrutiny. This book explores the issue through a case study of the origins of pilgrimage to one such image, Our Lady of Częstochowa in Poland. The shrine remains one of the most prominent pilgrimage destinations in the Catholic world. The striking focal panel painting shows the Virgin Mary with an apparently scarred face; the legend of the picture's origin claims that it was painted by St Luke and desecrated by iconoclasts. The book assesses the significance of the stories attached to the shrine, and goes beyond them to consider the practices and responses of pilgrims. Drawing on the earliest surviving miracle collections, it explores the interaction between the pilgrims and the image of the 'scarred' Virgin.

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