Dijon
Notre Dame de Bon Espoir, Our Lady of Good Hope
photo: oratoire-dijon.fr
Eglise Notre Dame de Dijon, 2 Place Notre Dame, Dijon 21000, sculpted between 1175-1200, oak wood, 84 cm high
photo: Dennis Aubrey in his beautiful photo reportage “Dijon and Our Lady of Good Hope” in Via Lucis: Photography of Religious Architecture
by Anasuya Isaacs
ARE YOU MY BLACK MOTHER?
One of the oldest depictions of the Virgin Mary in France is in Dijon; it dates all the way back to somewhere between the 11th and 12th century. Her name is Notre Dame de Bon Espoir (Our Lady of Good Hope). Made of oak wood, she is one the Black Virgins known as “the Seat of Wisdom” ~ seated on a throne with baby Jesus on her lap facing the world he came to bless. During the Romanesque period, all statues of the Madonna with Child were “Seats of Wisdom”. Before the second half of the 12th century, she was housed in a simple chapel called La Chapelle de Sainte-Marie, which was outside the city walls. At this time, Our Lady had two names: Notre-Dame de l'Apport (Our Lady of the Offerings) and Notre Dame du Marché (Our Lady of the Market). Around 1150, this chapel was rebuilt in the Romanesque style. Then around 1220, the people of Dijon built the Gothic church we see today not far from her original chapel home. The cathedral is considered a masterpiece of Gothic architecture.
At some time in the 1500’s, Mary's face was painted black, likely because in that era Black Madonnas had more power and stature than white ones. I did a lot of research to see if I could discover the reason she was turned into a “Black Madonna.” After reading many historical documents in French, I haven’t found the Priest or Bishop who made the request… yet. What I have discovered is that the nearby miraculous Our Lady of the Good Death in Clermont Ferrand as well as several other Black Madonnas of Auvergne (the department, or state, that they all preside over) were being visited by Popes, kings, and pilgrims from all over France and beyond. In the early centuries, the Black Madonnas were considered must-haves for regions, the One who staved off foreign intruders, plagues and famines. Maybe the call to paint Our Lady of the Market/The Offerings black was to enlist her miraculous protection. Maybe the bishop wanted a visit from the King or from the Pope. Whatever the intention, she was rebirthed into a Vierge Noire ~ A Black Virgin ~and inherited the “healing and fertility powers granted to the Black Madonnas following a very ancient belief, inherited from the pre-Christian era.”[1]
In 1945, it was discovered that the Madonna had been painted black. That layer was removed to reveal a reddish-brown oakwood Madonna. She was restored and then a black tint was applied to honor her as the Black Madonna that she was. [2] This is exactly how we should be honoring the legacy of all Black Madonnas that need restoration!
In 1773, the Abbot Gaudrillet, in his book, The History of the Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Good Hope, wrote “that the Black Virgin is black or rather, a dark brown that looks black.” He then added, “That’s the color that she had always been.”[3] Nevertheless, in 1963, Father Semplar, the Priest of Notre Dame de Bon Espoir, demanded that Our Lady be stripped of her blackness. So both her black color and her title of Black Madonna were stripped.[4]
But Can She Perform Miracles?
The Black Madonna can and did!
Let’s start with her first miracle which just so happened AFTER they painted brown Madonna black. In 1513, the city of Dijon was taken under siege by a combined Swiss and German army of 45,000 men. At only 6,000, the Dijonais were outnumbered and losing the battle. When the attack began on September 9, 1513, the invaders opened up with heavy cannon fire and were even able to breach the city walls, but were repulsed with surprisingly heavy casualties on their side.[5] How was that possible? On that day, the citizens carried the statue in procession through the streets of the city to ask for Our Lady’s protection. For an inexplicable reason, the Swiss lifted the siege two days later and decided to leave. The liberation of Dijon on September 11th, 1513 was attributed to the Virgin and that is when her name became permanently and solely Our Lady of Good Hope.
Perhaps to make sure the clergy and the citizens knew Our Lady loved being “more black,” a declared Black Madonna, she performed another major miracle during World War II when Germany turned Dijon into an occupied territory. On September 10th, Monsignor Sembel made a promise to Our Mother before the congregation that they would take to the streets in her honor and venerate her as the One who delivered them from their enemy if she liberated Dijon from the Germans. That very night, the German army fled Dijon and on September 11th, the French Army took control over the city and Dijon was declared liberated from German occupation. The grateful population took to the streets again, like they did on September 11th, 1513, carrying Our Lady of Good Hope throughout the City for all to see and shower her with their love and gratitude as promised.[6]
The faithful saw this as a miracle so a few townspeople commissioned the artist and monk Dom Robert to make a giant tapestry to commemorate the deliverance (rescue) of both 1513 and 1944 called “Terribilis.” Created between 1946-1950, the final art piece was installed under the organ in 1950.[7] Sadly, the artist chose to depict The Black Madonna as a Fair (rather white) Maiden. Okay, she is a little brown and a darker skin color than most of the faithful around her feet, but hey, in 1950, she was still a decidedly Black Madonna.
A reproduction of Our Lady of Good Hope with Baby Jesus, hands, feet, and throne restored. photo: Jondi.fr
In parading Our Lady all across the war-torn city, it was discovered that the statue was warped and in danger of falling completely apart. A full restoration was ordered. It was during this time that it was revealed that underneath her heavy and rigid covering, Our Lady had lost not only her baby Jesus, but somewhere in the 18th century, she also lost her hands, her feet and… her throne! She had been desecrated but not destroyed. In 1945, The Mother returned to her basilica. Her beautiful Egyptian face and her full breasts, protruding, fertile belly had been left untouched. In her stripped down posture without throne, hands and feet, Our Lady resembles a woman squatting to give birth. Yes, She is still capable of birthing life and miracles anew. Her grace-filled power is undiminished. However, no word of any other major miracle being granted by Our Lady was ever spoken of since she was stripped of her black color in 1963. Take away her blackness and title and you don’t get any more miracles!
Her Golden Yet Sad History
Our Lady of Good Hope is the victorious one, which is why she offers such immaculate hope to her faithful children. Before she was stripped of her blackness, her sanctuary was one of the most visited churches in France, venerated by Kings, Popes and the multitudes of faithful. She has been through occupations, wars, and plagues and always delivered her children from harm. To keep them safe, she herself was abused.
Dennis Aubrey discovered this rarely-told history of Our Lady of Good Hope during his visit in 2013:
“Few of them knew the story of her preservation during the dark early days of the [French] Revolution. As was common throughout France at that time, crowds of iconoclasts attacked the churches and stole, defaced, or destroyed the religious artifacts within and without. In Dijon, they attacked the Église Notre-Dame. A young girl, Marthe Launy, wanted to protect the venerated Viérge but was afraid that she would be harmed by the hostile crowd if she announced that intention. So this intelligent youngster climbed on the altar, raised up the statue and loudly proclaimed it as her share of the spoils. One local man disputed the claim and as they struggled, he knocked both Marthe and the Vierge to the ground. No damage was done to the Mother, but the child Jesus on her lap was broken into seven pieces. Local tradition claims that the son sacrificed himself to save his mother.
A local cobbler ended up with the Vierge and he made a good business of charging the faithful to come to view or pray at the statue. Marthe and her aunt scraped together what money they had saved and bought the statue from the cobbler and hid it for several years. When it finally became safe enough to display the Madonna again, they returned it to the church. A great procession accompanied the statue from Marthe’s house to the church where she remains today.”[8]
Footnotes:
[1] M. Pierre Quarré, La Statue de Notre Dame de Bon Espoir et son ancienne polychromie
[2] ibid.
[3] ibid., p. 191
[4] ibid.
[5] the Catholic Travel Guide https://thecatholictravelguide.com/destinations/france/france-dijon-statue-lady-hope/
[6] https://bm.dijon.fr/documents/MEMOIRES%20CACO/1832-2001/1947-1953-023-08-190-197-1364354.pdf
[7] Wikipedia article, Church of Notre Dame of Dijon
[8] Dennis Aubrey, Dijon and Our Lady of Good Hope