Quite often people post online certain lists of the “most beautiful” church, statues of Our Lady, or something like that. I find most of the choices in these lists very unsatisfactory (either because they’re not all that unique or are essentially plaster versions of the same image) which is why I hardly ever retweet or re-post them. But rather than to just bemoan their lack, I thought I’d publish my own list. So here, in my opinion, are the “19 Most Breathtakingly Beautiful Statues of Our Lady” that I have seen, and the reasons why.
1. Our Lady Immaculate from the Jesuit church of the Immaculate Conception in Mayfair, London. This is number 1 because someone in the USA saw this photo of the statue, and was so moved by its beauty that she went in search of it in London, and subsequently she became a Catholic.
2. Our Lady of Ushaw College is in the former seminary in the north of England. Carved from Carrera marble by a Jew who became a Catholic subsequently, it has a certain serenity and elegance that I love.
3. This medieval English alabaster from a Dominican priory seems to glow with an inner vitality.
4. This Annunciation scene from Burgos Cathedral is typical of certain medieval depictions of Our Lady and St Gabriel which show them smiling; they radiate joy in the Incarnation.
5. Another smiling Virgin, this time with her infant son, from Amiens Cathedral.
6. Sir Ninian Comper’s painted alabaster statue of Our Lady from All Saints, Margaret Street in London. A fine example of what medieval altar furnishings looked like in polychrome and gilded splendour. This statue of Our Lady is quite tender, and gives a slightly playful quality to the Christ Child.
7. This marble statue of Our Lady of Lourdes is iconic. And she is beautiful, especially when you stand beneath and look up and whisper your prayers and petitions. Countless millions have done so in deep faith, which make her radiant with beauty.
8. This marble statue of Our Lady is in the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal on the Rue du Bac in Paris. This church is yet another centre of pilgrimage and prayer, and at a time when Paris is imperilled this depiction of Our Lady holding the world in her hands speaks of peace and her motherly protection.
9. Certainly one of the most famous images of Our Lady, and she is serenely beautiful, full of trust in God’s good plan, even in the face of the atrocities inflicted on her son.
10. Our Lady of La Naval, Patroness and Protectress of the Philippines is certainly one of the most splendidly arrayed statues of Mary. Carved from ivory in the 16th century, she is greatly revered by the Filipinos and each year she is enthroned like this in the Dominican church in Quezon City for a novena of Masses followed by a Grand Procession.
11. From the stunning medieval Fairford parish church, an alabaster Virgin and Child which is small and delicate; quite lovely.
12. 14th-century statue in Ampleforth Abbey church in my beloved Yorkshire. Like so many medieval statues of Our Lady, she too has a slight smile and I like the posy of flowers in her right hand.
13. Our Lady of Good Success, venerated as Our Lady of Aberdeen in Scotland. The original is in Belgium but this version of the statue is in St Peter’s church in Aberdeen, and I love our blonde she and Our Lord are!
14. This brass statue of Our Lady surmount the choir lectern in the chapel of the Dominican House of Studies, Washington DC. I look at her every day, and she is rather beautiful especially in candlelight. But you’d have to come and join us for Compline (9pm daily) to see this for yourself.
15. A classic (and much reproduced) image of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Placed here, as a public act of witness to the faith of the first Catholics to come across to the east coast of the USA, it has a special poignancy and beauty.
16. A medieval depiction of the Visitation from the choir screen in Notre Dame de Paris. What I love about this is how pregnant Our Lady is!
17. Brass statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, the Immaculate Conception. I love the detail in this, and it is rather splendid.
18. Another depiction of the Immaculate Conception, this one from Segovia Cathedral in Spain. Our Lady’s purity comes across in this statue, especially contrasted with the Dragon underfoot!
19. Finally, this Romanesque image called ‘Our Lady of Grace’ which is in my room. I bought it in Lourdes, where it was made by the nuns of the Bethlehem community. I love the way Christ holds on to her, and the elegance and nobility of this image. It makes me think of the way I too cling to Our Lady and seek her closeness, her motherly embrace, and a share in her graces.
20. A bonus: This isn’t a statue but it’s a very special and sublime icon of Our Lady. To my mind, it’s second in beauty only to Our Lady of Guadalupe. This is the ‘Madonna of San Sisto’, an icon of Byzantine provenance but believed to have been painted by St Luke, which St Dominic miraculously carried in 1219 to the new monastery of the Dominican nuns in Rome. So, a bit of Dominican history #op800, and it seems to glow with an inner light of holiness and grace.
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