La Madonna del Soccorso

The Iconography

In this iconographic type a little boy is protected from a monstrous-looking devil by the Virgin Mary, who threatens the monster with a cudgel or other weapon. Usually the boy's mother is also pictured. According to Ekserdjian (241), the type is based on "several different versions of a folk tale in which a parent – not invariably a mother – damned the child to the devil and then begged the Virgin to intervene when the devil came to seize the child."

Cabrera writes that the story began in Palermo but became most popular in the Umbria region of Italy. It is also known in Spain (second picture at right).

Prepared in 2022 by Richard Stracke, Emeritus Professor of English, Augusta University.


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This painting from Urbino, Italy, is the canonical version of the type, with Mary, the boy, and the mother. (See the description page.)


Many versions adopt one or both of two common variations on the iconography: omitting the mother, and adding the Christ Child. From Santiago de Compostela, Spain. (See the description page.)

NAMES

  • In Galicia, Nosa Señora do Socorro