Madonna

Madonna is an Italian word contracting mia and donna: my lady. In the visual arts, this term is used for representations of Mary, often with the Child in her lap. Throughout the ages, Madonnas have been a much-loved theme in the visual arts, as they were in the Middle Ages, the period in which the very concept of the university arose.

The University possesses no fewer than four Madonna statues. One of these is representative of the university: Mary as the Seat of Wisdom, a type of statue called sedes sapientiae in Latin, showing Mary with the Christ child on her knee. She has a globe in one hand, symbol of God’s rule over his creation, just as Christ is likely to have had if his right hand had not been missing. In his left hand, he carries a book, symbol of his being a teacher, a representation similar to that in the logo of the Catholic University of Leuven.

The other three statues of Mary demonstrate how perceptions of her have changed. In the hall of the University College, there is a Black Madonna, showing that Mary plays a part in many cultures. In the Zwijsen Building, there is a so-called hidden Madonna, made by Marc Mulders, so bashed for his religiously inspired work that he chose not to position mother and child in the foreground but concealed by flower petals. The fourth Madonna is in the hall of the Cobbenhagen Building: a bronze statue of Mary holding the dead body of Christ in her lap.

The Black Madonna – The Black Widow - by Inez van Lamsweerde, a photograph from 2004