Mare de Déu del Claustre

Romanesque image of the Cathedral of Tarragona

In the cathedral of Tarragona, in the chapel of the cloister, an ancient Romanesque image of the Virgin loving the Child is venerated: the Mare de Déu del Claitre, much loved by the Tarraconians and called "friend of the children."

Origin and history

The Mare de Déu del Claittre is a Roman sculpture of uncertain antiquity, with Byzantine features, which represents the Sitting Virgin breastfeeding the Child - iconography of the Virgin of Milk. The tradition tells that it would have been venerated in the French monastery of San Rufo and brought to Tarragona in the 12th century, possibly by Archbishop Bernardo Tort.

The image has been in the cathedral since 1520, and the current chapel of the cloister was built between the 16th and 17th centuries, with ninth and solemnity in November. She is very dear in Tarragona, where she is "a friend of the children." The accessible sources do not contain a conclusive ecclesial confirmation of patronage or a canonical coronation.

Formal canonical patronage, fixed date of feast and canonical coronation: they do not safely record in the sources.