"La Bruna" is generally regarded as the oldest image of Our Lady that has been venerated by the Carmelite Order.
The Carmelite Order has been dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary for centuries and is best known for the Brown Scapular and devotion to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
At around the same time as St. Simon Stock received the legendary revelation of the Brown Scapular, the hermits of Mt. Carmel were devoted to a particular icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The image, written in the style of an Eastern icon, is dated to the 13th century and is described as an icon of the Virgin Mary "of tenderness" and is referred to as "La Bruna."
La Bruna
Similar to many other icons of Our Lady, La Bruna is believed to have been written by St. Luke himself, or at least was written based off the prototype that St. Luke reportedly created. She is called "La Bruna," "the Brown One," because of the darkness of her skin tone.
The icon was with the Carmelites on Mt. Carmel until the 13th century, when the Holy Land became a very dangerous place to be during the crusades.
The Carmelites fled from Mt. Carmel and went to various places, such as Italy, where they brought the icon of the Virgin Mary. They took this particular icon to the outskirts of Naples, where it has been located since.
Many in Italy have been devoted to this icon and its popularity has spread throughout the country and beyond.
The icon was even formally crowned by Vatican decree on July 11, 1875.
Artistically this icon has influenced a variety of later paintings of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, and is still held in high devotion among Carmelites around the world.
