What is acheiropoietos?

The enduring popularity of the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa among Polish people, as well as various miraculous abilities commonly attributed by the devotees to the image, are mirrored in a significant number of legends, stories and tales about the image and its history. In this introductory Chapter, I will focus on the legends of origin connected with the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa. Common knowledge about the history of the image reveals very interesting and complex links between various levels of culture: historical and present, religious and scientific, Christian and national.

In order to synthesize this diverse discourse, and to understand the context of the oldest themes within the Jasna Góra legend, it is worth referring to the very beginnings of figural presentations within the purview of Christian culture. It is also important to realize that Christian art arose within two diametrically different attitudes towards figural art. As Ewa Kuryluk points out:

These complicated and dynamic relations between the different cult models were inscribed in the beginnings of Christian art. They were present in the disputes and arguments between the adherents of the cult connected with holy images and ardent opponents of any kind of figural representation.