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ArticlesElegance Personified: The Black Madonna of MontserratJoan L. Roccasalvo, CSJFew places in the world resembleMontserrat in the Catalan regionof Spain. There nature, culture, andfaith are united as one. Spectacular sawshapedmountains rise like a geologicalcathedral about 3,500 feet above sea levelto embrace the Benedictine Abbey atMontserrat. Within the Abbey is foundthe shrine of the regional patroness, thestatuary of Our Lady of Montserrat andChild, a flawless gem of Romanesque art.The mountains themselves are anopen-air museum in the middle of arugged landscape containing about1,050 species of plants. There arevarious routes up the mountains to theAbbey, but going by cable car only intensifiesthe gradual and exhilaratingascent into thin air.The Benedictine Abbey of MontserratThe Abbey’s history began in theninth century with four hermitages,and the Benedictine sanctuary itselfwas founded in the eleventh century:a sheer feat of architectural genius! Bythe end of the sixteenth century, thepresent Gothic and Renaissance-stylebasilica was consecrated. After Napoleonset fire to parts of the Abbey,restoration was accomplished by themid-nineteenth century. Poets, artists,and musicians have sung the Basilica’spraises as man’s praise of the transcendent.The Abbey is a symbol of Catalonianculture and faith combined. 1In the Spanish style, the façade isornately decorated as is the interior,which is a cavernous place for a plethoraof liturgical services as well as forpersonal prayer. Of note are the mainaltar―an enormous solid block cut outof a mountain―and a huge stainedglass window at the rear of the Basilica.A Paradigm of Western Religious ArtThe famous statuary of theMadonna of Montserrat was sculptedin the twelfth century by an exceedinglygifted anonymous artist. TheMadonna of Montserrat is also knownas La Moreneta, “the little dark-skinnedone.” There is no definitive proof asto why this and other depictions ofthe Madonna-type are black. A simplereason may be due to the wood havingbeen darkened over time. The versefrom the Song of Songs (1:5), “I amblack but beautiful,” has been linked tothis Madonna-type because it was a favoritephrase at the time. Though a regionalshrine, devotion to it has spreadthroughout Europe.Statuary and sculpture are decidedlywestern art forms. Virtually everyculture in the world that venerates theMother of God and Divine Child hasdepicted them according to its own regionalview of them. Like the belovedand universally-known Byzantine icon,“Our Lady of Vladimir,” this statuaryranks as one of the loveliest depictionsof the Mother of God with Child. Itconveys a greater accessibility to theviewer than does the icon. The statue,however, imitates the internationalByzantine conventional and stylizedform. Its anonymous sculptor offers theWest a paradigm of sacred art that hascharm, warmth, and beauty. Locatedin this remote Benedictine Abbey, thestatuary measures about thirty-eightinches and is painted in polychrome.One can see a striking resemblance tothe statuary of the Egyptian goddessIsis and her son Horus.The Majesty of Sainte Foy (983-1013)in Conques, France, is another modelfor the statuary of the Black Madonnaof Montserrat. 2 Antique Isis-Mothers,also called Thrones of Wisdom, werebrought back from the Crusades andwere kept in the shelter of Christiancrypts. They attracted people andpointed them toward Chartres, Rocamadour,and Marseilles. These modelswere known in the region of Montserrat.The sculptor shows Our Lady ina pose assuming a majestic reserveand a certain detachment as she sitson a throne, hieratic and exalted. Thepattern of the statuary derives fromthree type-origins: (1) the Egyptianstatuary of the goddess Isis and her sonHorus; (2) the type of Black Madonna;(3) “Seat of Wisdom” (sedes sapientae),a phrase first used by St. Augustine.The art-historical name is “Throne ofWisdom.” 3Mary is the seat of wisdom because,in her, the Father found a dwellingplace where the Son and Spirit coulddwell among humankind. She isdaughter of God the Father, mother ofGod the Son and the cathedra or seatof the Logos incarnate, and spouse ofthe Holy Spirit. As sanctuary of theTrinity, she presents the triune Godto the world acting as intermediarybetween transcendent Divine Wisdomand human wisdom. Mary is the embodimentof communion between thedivine and the human. 4The Statuary ProperA cushion serves as the footstoolfor this figure which exudes a mysteriouspresence. This is no ordinary16 Sacred Architecture Issue 21 2012Photo: Oficina de Turisme de Montserrat