1. A picture or sculpture of the Virgin Mary.
2. Italian name for the Virgin Mary, meaning “my lady”.
3. A morally pure and chaste woman
Adopted name of Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone (1958-)
US pop singer and actress who presents herself on stage and in videos with an exaggerated sexuality. Her first hit was ‘Like a Virgin’ 1984; others include ‘Material Girl’ 1985 and ‘Like a Prayer’ 1989. Her films include Desperately Seeking Susan 1985, Dick Tracy 1990, the documentary In Bed with Madonna 1991, and A League of Their Own 1992.
In the early years of her career she frequently employed Catholic trappings in her dress and stage show. Her book Sex, a collection of glossy, erotic photographs interspersed with explicit fantasies in the form of short stories, was published 1992, coinciding with the release of the dance album Erotica.