Our Lady of Solitude (Spanish: María de la Soledad; Portuguese: Nossa Senhora da Soledade) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Saturday. Variant names include Nuestra Señora de la Soledad,[1]Maria Santisima, Nuestra Señora Dolorosisima de la Soledad, and Virgen de la Soledad.
Our Lady of Solitude in the Procesión del Silencio in Madrid 1915.Our Lady of Solitude in Teruel, Spain
"This devotion was instituted to compassionate Our Lady for her solitude on Holy Saturday and is akin to the devotion practiced among the Servites on Good Friday called the Desolata."[1]
María de la Soledad's feast day is celebrated on December 18 in Spanish-speaking countries, on Holy Saturday in English-speaking, and on Good Friday in Portuguese-speaking countries. In Oaxaca, Mexico devotions are held on the Sunday before Christmas.[1]
In the convent of Our Lady of Victory
Isabel de Valois, wife of Felipe II, had in a private oratory a painting that she had brought with her from France and that represented the Virgin of the Solitude. The image of the picture aroused great devotion in the friars of the Order of the Minims of San Francisco de Paula, who had settled in Madrid following in the footsteps of the monarch. The friars asked permission of the queen to have a copy of the image for the chapel of their convent of Our Lady of Victory in Madrid. The image of Our Lady of Solitude was carved by the sculptor Gaspar Becerra.[3]
From the beginning, the image was intended to be "vestidera", with only the head and hands carved and the rest a wooden frame covered with clothes. It seems that on the initiative of the Countess of Ureña, Dña María de la Cueva y Toledo, the queen's main waitress, she wore her own outfit of a noble widow of the time; this characteristic attire added to other peculiarities – such as wearing a diadem in place of crown, or be accompanied by the symbols of the Passion – constituted a true revolution in the typology of Marian images.[4]
In 1565, finally, after more than a year of work, the statue of Our Lady of Solitude was presented to the convent of Our Lady of Victory.
^Sánchez de Madariaga, Elena (2008). La Virgen de la Soledad, la difusión de un culto en el Madrid barroco. Casa de Velázquez. ISBN978-84-96820-12-8. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
