AN ITALIAN BRONZE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY

AN ITALIAN BRONZE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE VIRGIN MARY

AFTER GIUSEPPE OBICI (ITALIAN, 1807-1878),

the Virgin Mary standing on a horned sphere, held up by the four evangelists' symbols, the bronze on a circular (red breccia) marble stand

29cm high

Catalogue Note

The statue of The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary can be found in central Rome in the Piazza di Spagna. The statue itself stands upon a Corinthian column sculpted in ancient Rome. The city firemen originally erected the column, and during the Feast of Immaculate Conception, the head of the Italian Fire Department places a bouquet, with the motto 'We Stop Fires, Giving Our Hearts', through the Virgin Mary's open right arm, signalling the start of the Christmas season in Rome and the rest of Italy.