The Madonna and the Cuckoo: An Exploration in European Symbolic Conceptions FRANCISCO VAZ DA SILVA University of Lisbon an ethnographical problem This paper means to suggest that it is good at times to step out of the glare of modern frames of intelligibility in order to perceive in ethnographic data dim, or subtle, signs of worldviews no longer apparent. It proposes to show, in this strain, that humble attention to folklore allows us to make sense of seemingly pointless trivia. Overall, the article is an experiment in interweaving ethnolog- ic and folkloristic approaches to expand the relevant contexts of problematic cultural details and thus attain theoretical generalization. The chosen pretext is an intriguing discrepancy I found in the northern Por- tuguese sanctuary of Senhora da Abadia, Our Lady of the Abbey. The main stat- ue of this old Marian sanctuary, probably dating from the early fourteenth cen- tury, is a depiction of the Madonna and Child. The standing Virgin dresses in a red tunic bearing floral motifs, partly covered by a blue mantle. In her right hand, the Madonna used to hold a flower stem that has long since been broken; in her left arm, she holds her baby. The child Jesus, conspicuously blond, in turn uses his left hand seemingly to feed a golden bird resting on his lap. As if to emphasize the importance of this bird motif, another statue standing on a lateral altar, dating from the nineteenth century, offers the corresponding image of St. Joseph holding Jesus in his left arm, the child in turn holding in his left hand a golden bird that he feeds on greenery with the other hand. Giv- en the well-known role of the Holy Spirit, often represented as a dove, in the begetting of Jesus, the identification of the birds in both statues might seem ob- 273 0010-4175/04/273 –299 $9.50 © 2004 Society for Comparative Study of Society and History Acknowledgments: I have presented a draft of this paper at the University of California, Berkeley by invitation of the Portuguese Studies Program and the Folklore Archives Lectures Series. In Berkeley, Alan Dundes has provided precious encouragement and brought new sources to my at- tention, and Andreas B. Johns generously translated and summarized for me Slavic materials he found on the cuckoo. My trip has been funded by the Portuguese Studies Program and the Luso- American Foundation for Development (FLAD). Most importantly, this article owes more than I can say to the uncommon intelligence and sensitivity of the editors of CSSH, Thomas R. Trautmann and David W. Akin. Let all be warmly thanked here.