Picture in Focus: Jasna Gora Poster by Ryszard Kaja

May 22, 2022

Picture in Focus: Jasna Gora Poster by Ryszard Kaja

In our series on images of the Virgin Mary by Polish Artists in the Sacred Art Pilgrim Collection, we turn this week to a minimally modern Mary and Baby Jesus on a travel poster from Graphic Artist Ryszard Kaja, celebrating the Jasna Gora (Bright Mountain) Monastery in Czestochowa, where millions of pilgrims come each year to view the painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa, popularly known as the Black Madonna. According to legend, the image was made by Saint Luke. It is almost certainly an ancient Byzantine icon brought to Poland in the late 1300s, so familiar to Poles it is easily recognized here in a haloed silhouette with two red lines, representing slash marks on the original image, supposedly made by Hussite rebels,who were miraculously thwarted in their attempt to steal the holy relic in the 15th century. This offset lithograph in an abstract style is one of a projected series of 120 posters, promoting the regional culture of Poland, left unfinished when Kaja died in 2019. It can be viewed in the gallery of the Polish Poster Art page in the Schools of Sacred Art section. Poland has opened its doors to millions refugees fleeing the war in neighboring Ukraine. Pray for Peace! (John Kohan)