Sonogno, Ticino
The Black Madonna (la Madonna Nera, since she is in the Italian speaking part of Switzerland), Our Lady of Loreto also known as the Madonna Lauretana, copy
Fresco of the original on the outside wall of a house in the village. Life size Statue from the 1920’s in the church Santa Maria Lauretana, 6637 Sonogno, Canton Ticino.
Now she stands in central position behind the altar.
photo: Bodenseebiker Thurgau
In the 1920’s this most picturesque village was the showplace of a big fight over the skin color of Our Heavenly Mother! The parish priest being convinced that Black Madonnas were a remnant of Pagan superstition, decided to replace the village’s Black Madonna with a White one, even though the church was dedicated to the Black Madonna of Loreto! A big argument ensued, that reached its peak when the priest burned the beloved statue. Only a fresco on the outside wall of a private house in the village reminds us of her original presence. Interesting that it portrays her as one of those I call “Yin Yang Madonnas”, a Black Mother Mary with a White Baby Jesus.[i]
Thank Heaven, two years after the violent end of their beloved Madonna Nera the parish somehow managed to get a new priest. The women of the village promptly commissioned a local artist to sculpt a new Black Madonna of Loreto. To this day she is greatly loved, considered a miracle worker[ii] and honored with an annual procession. Victory!
One of the most beautiful villages of Switzerland with its church from 1854. wikimedia photo: Adrian Michael
Main source of information and screenshot:
2002 documentary film by Margrit R. Schmid “Schwarz bin ich und schoen: die Verehrung der schwarzen Madonna in der Schweiz” aired by the Swiss public broadcasting Company SRF, at 18.30 - 19.54 minutes.
Footnotes:
[i] Other Black Madonnas with white Baby Jesus or ‘Yin Yang Madonnas’: Foggia, Chipiona, San Severo, Santisteban-del-Puerto . For a deeper look at theme, read the Foggia article.
[ii] According to J. Liedtke’s very interesting article on the village, which also has the best photos. https://derstreuner.ch/2021/11/09/sonogno/