Kōrero: Catholic Church

Catholicism and Māori: carved Madonna and child, 1840s (1 o 3)

Catholicism and Māori: carved Madonna and child, 1840s

This version of the Madonna and child was carved by Pataromu Tamatea of Te Arawa for a new Catholic chapel in Bay of Plenty. The carver indicated the Madonna's spiritual status in Māori terms by giving her a full moko (facial tattoo). However the non-Māori priest refused to accept the carving and said that he found it offensive to his church. Catholic and other missionaries sometimes failed to understand traditional Māori responses to Christianity.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira

Permission of the Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero
Te tuhi tohutoro mō tēnei whārangi:

Rory Sweetman, 'Catholic Church - First Catholic missionaries', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/mi/object/29273/catholicism-and-maori-carved-madonna-and-child-1840s (accessed 4 October 2023)

He kōrero nā Rory Sweetman, i tāngia i te 5 May 2011, reviewed & revised 17 Jul 2018