The Black Madonna of Czestochowa
| Missing image Blackmadonna.jpeg |
| The Black Madonna of Czestochowa |
| Unknown, Unknown |
| ?, ? × ? cm |
| Jasna Góra, Czestochowa |
The Black Madonna of Częstochowa (Czarna Madonna or Matka Boska Częstochowska in Polish) icon was, according to legend, painted by St. Luke the Evangelist on a cypress table top from the house of the Holy Family. One of the oldest documents from Jasna Góra states that the picture travelled from Jerusalem, via Constantinople, to finally reach Czętochowa in August 1382. The Black Madonna is credited with miraculously saving the monastery of Jasna Góra (English: Bright Hill) from a Swedish 17th century invasion, The Deluge, which actually changed the course of the war. This event led King Jan Kazimierz to crown Our Lady of Częstochowa (the Black Madonna) as Queen and Protector of Poland in the cathedral of Lwów on April 1, 1656.