Mediatrix of All Graces

The Shrine Madonna and the Marian Gaze

Bibliographic Data

ID3594843
AuthorsKatharine D Scherff (Northwestern State University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume16
Issue9
Pages1180
Publication date2025-09-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueReligions (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2077-1444 • E-ISSN: 2077-1444
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/rel16091180
OpenAlexW4414183726
LanguageEN
References cited32

The Shrine Madonna is a unique form of cult statuary within the wider Madonna and Child tradition, linked to broader Marian iconography. Building on previous scholarship, this article focuses on the visual relationship between the Virgin and the worshiper, giving primacy to the Shrine Madonna's gaze. Analyzing three key examples: the Boubon, Rhineland, and Morlaix, Shrine Madonnas reveal how these objects function as mediators of sacred presence, theology, and compassion. Theoretical frameworks surrounding gaze theory and medieval concepts of vision and visuality buttress a discussion of three distinct gazes-direct, mutual, and averted-that facilitate a compassionate response and establish divine hierarchy. This work argues for a shift from viewing Shrine Madonnas as static devotional objects toward recognizing their dynamic role in mediating affective spiritual exchange. Shrine Madonnas are active subjects who command theological space and engage viewers through a reciprocal gaze that alters perception. Rather than passively being observed, they watch back, reflecting and redirecting the viewer's desire, thereby implicating and transforming them

Cult · Gaze · Reciprocal · Photography and Visual Culture · Renaissance and Early Modern Studies · Visual Culture and Art Theory

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