Figura Matki Boskiej Skępskiej
jako wizerunek acheiropoietyczny
The Figure of Our Lady of Skępe
as an Acheiropoietic Image
Author(s): Łukasz CiemińskiSubject(s): Anthropology, Social Sciences
Published by: Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
Keywords: painting anthropology; miraculous image; Skępe; Our Lady of Skępe, folk religiosity; Marian sanctuaries
Summary/Abstract: The article discusses the phenomenon of the cult of the figure of Our Lady of Skępe as an acheiropoeitic image. The conviction regarding the existence of representations created thanks to divine intervention, functioning across Christianity, had its own image in Polish folk religiosity. The painting of Our Lady of Częstochowa is its most popular manifestation, but, as it turns out, it is not the only one. On the basis of field research and source studies (devotional literature, indulgence songs) conducted by the author it is proven and discussed that some worshippers of the Madonna of Skępe are convinced that the figure is of supernatural origin. The narrations concerning the miraculous image, based in topoi of Bizantine provenance, are enriched with their own, particular elements. These issues are inscribed into the cycle of stories concerning the origins of the sanctuary in the Dobrzyń Land, whose range of influence includes also Kuyavia and Mazovia, making the image found in Skępe an interesting example of Marian acheiropoieta.
Journal: Literatura Ludowa
- Issue Year: 66/2022
- Issue No: 4
- Page Range: 7-26
- Page Count: 20
- Language: English, Polish