This post on “Curious Appellatives of the Virgin Mary” is my translation and condensed version of a fascinating visual / textual essay published by Patrizia Fontana Roca on her website, www.cartantica.it. Among the numberless appellatives of the Virgin Mary, records of Her infinite powers, some are indeed “curious.” Their “curiosity,” Patrizia underscores, can be just fortuitous, the result of an artist’s whim, or of a cultural or political situation. Most “curious” images of the Virgin Mary and their titles are self-explanatory. Others less so, and in need of glossing. With Patrizia’s permission I reproduce here an image of Madonna delle Corna (Madonna with Horns), several images of “Madonna del Soccorso,” one of Madonna del Flagello (Madonna of the Scourge), and the relevant information about them Patrizia provides. Cappella Portinari (Convent of Sant’ Eustorgio, in Milan)...