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L’industrie au service de la Vierge : Lourdes et la statuaire de série

2016; Ecclesiastical History Society of France; Volume: 102; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1484/j.rhef.5.112717

0048-7988

Pauline Carminati,

Historical Art and Culture Studies

The church's acknowledgement of the Virgin Mary's apparitions to Bernadette Soubirous launched the presence in Lourdes of 'official' merchandise destined to favour the expansion of the new devotion as well as to finance the construction of the chapel of the Immaculate Conception. Those in charge of the sanctuary encouraged the diffusion of objects of devotion and in particular had statues representing Our Lady of Lourdes made for that purpose. To provide such products, they first engaged Joseph Fabisch, the creator of the marble sculpture erected in the grotto, before approaching Josef Ignaz Raffl, a Parisian manufacturer who specialised in the creation and production of religious sculptures.