THE GOTHIC IMAGE OF OUR LADY OF NAZARÉ AND ITS ARTISTIC ICONOGRAPHY IN PORTUGAL AND BRAZIL (14TH-18TH CENTURIES)

Abstract

The recent restoration of the sculpture of Our Lady of Nazareth, located in the Sanctuary where she is worshipped in the town of Nazareth (Portugal), attested to the antiquity of this devotional piece, carved from olive wood and dating back to the 14th century. It is an iconographic version of Our Lady of Milk and displays unexpected artistic qualities, including polychromy. The cult in question, one of the oldest processes of legitimizing Marianism in the world, grew from its cradle sanctuary in Nazareth and, from the 17th century onward, would experience major ramifications throughout Portuguese-speaking countries. It reached its climax, particularly in Brazil, in the late 18th century, at the sanctuary of Belém de Pará and with the famous Círio, a UNESCO intangible heritage site. The medieval iconography assumed in the sculpture maintained its matrixial form, for reasons that can be analyzed and explained through numerous scholarly and popular versions.