“The Veiled Virgin”
My friend saw this incredible sculpture while studying at St. John’s in Newfoundland and told me about her. Isn’t she wonderful?
“The Veiled Virgin” is a marble sculpture by the Italian Neoclassical artist, Giovanni Strazza. It is made entirely of Carrera marble and was made sometime in the early 1850s, while Strazza was living in Rome. This is Strazza’s most celebrated work.
In this piece, Strazza expertly sculpted a bust of the Lady Virgin Mary. Strazza depicts the face of Mary, laden with emotion, shrouded in a transparent veil. Her expressive emotions are clearly visible under a layer of fabric. Even her braided hair is visible. This piece exhibits Strazza’s mastery of his art.
The veiled woman was a common motif in Italian art during the mid-nineteenth century in Italy. She was Italy personified and became a popular theme during a period known as Risorgimento, as Italian unification was underway. Contemporaries of Strazza with their own veiled sculptures include Giuseppe Sanmartino and Raffaelle Monti.
On December 4, 1856, “The Veiled Virgin” sculpture arrived in St. John’s, Newfoundland, for Bishop John Thomas Mullock who served for the Catholic Cathedral, The Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. It was erected at the Bishop’s Palace.
In 1862, Bishop Mullock gifted this beautiful sculpture to his birth sister, Sister Mary de Pazzi Mullock, and the Presentation Convent where she was living at the time. It remains there to this day.
“The Veiled Virgin” is housed with the Presentation Sisters in Cathedral Square, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, in Canada, and is viewable by appointment.
For more on Giovanni Strazza, please visit his short biography here.
You can find more artists to learn about here.
A sock-knocker-offer if I’ve ever seen one. Just stunning. Thanks so much for featuring it.