Statue of the holy virgin with the child, Statue in the cathedral of Nancy, France
The statue de la Sainte Vierge à l'Enfant is a stone sculpture inside Nancy's cathedral, showing the Virgin Mary nursing the infant Jesus. The work is carved from limestone and still shows traces of its original painted surface.
The statue originally stood in the church of Saint-Georges in Nancy and was moved to the cathedral in 1742, after that church was demolished to make way for a government building. It was damaged during the Revolution and later restored, though the repair altered some of its original details.
The statue was long known as Notre-Dame de Saint-Georges, a name tied to the church where it originally stood. Over time, pilgrimages faded, but the people of Nancy kept a quiet attachment to it that continues to be felt in the cathedral today.
The statue is inside Nancy's cathedral and can be seen during a visit to the building without any special arrangements. Natural light during the day makes it easier to notice the details of the stonework and the remaining traces of paint.
The type of image shown here, with the Virgin nursing her child, is called a Virgo lactans and has become rare in religious art since the Council of Trent. Visitors who look closely at the statue can still notice where the post-Revolution restoration was not fully precise, leaving visible traces of the repair.
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