The statue of Our Lady of Fatima

[Crumpy]

Can anybody explain the reason that the crown on the statue is so out of proportion to the human features of the statue?

In any ordinary artistic sense, that misproportion would be laughed at. It would be ridiculed, to say the least, as non-professional.

And, yet, to the devotees of the Lady, they apparently don’t see anything wrong or unusual.

What gives with this? Why so much attention to the inanimate part of the image?
What could a crown, oversized at that, add to the image or stature of the Virgin Mary?

 

[SonCatcher]

As I understand, Our Lady of Fatima did not appear wearing a crown and statues of her did not initially appear with one. At some time someone decided to add a crown for pietistic reasons and the idea kind of stuck (of adding a crown to an existing statue).

Some Fatima statues also include a trio of doves. The story of the doves may have a reference to the beginning of the crown tradition:

Suddenly, at the moment of communion, the third dove flew up and perched on top of the statue’s golden crown . . . placed there by the cardinal Legate who personally represented the Holy Father the previous May 13 at Fátima . . .

 

[Aleksa]

I always liked the huge crown. I imagined she would have to be supernaturally poised in order to balance it on her head.

 

[Crumpy]

I can rationalize a crown from scripture, from two points of view.

1. Mary is the ‘queen mother’ of Jesus, who is the supreme and eternal King of Kings.
   It’s analogous to King David’s mother who apparently had a seat next to him.
2. There’s that image in Revelation about the vision of the woman (in the sky, is it?). She has a crown, as I recall.

So, I can get that far as the crown, itself. But the large proportions of the crown?

It certainly must come down to some artistic interpretation and artistic license, but to me the issue is that the result is garish.

I mean, nobody would depict Jesus with goofy arms like Popeye, or the like. That kind of image would be banned and burned very quickly.

Fatima is not a simple apparition event. It was prolonged, there are secrets that may or may not have already been revealed, there are messages about the conversion of Russia. I don’t understand how the fall of the Soviet Union can in any way be equated with the conversion of Russia. That was a political change which can hardly be call a conversion, can it? I don’t understand.

And, then there’s this thing about the Pope dedicating Russia or the world to the Immaculate Conception (is that how it goes?) – Fatima is a very complex and fantastic series of supernatural things.

At face value, those are very serious and important revelations. Why would anyone want to poison the picture with this overblown crown on the statue’s head? I might accept all the revelations, but the crown is just over-the-top for me. I don’t need that crown for anything, to paint some overly pietistic trademark for the event, like to promote sales.

 

[mark_avery]

First; the size would insinuate the physical statue has know bearing on her spiritual hight,now!

2nd; would not the,of old statues of been somewhat disproportionate if the penis was larger!

3rd; personally i also first saw it your way,but after reflection and they importance of such pictorial necessity,it could have undermined the holistic artistry or would have! there is know mistake.

4th; all due respect do you think our lady would of worn a crown then & when now i`m sure it fits, at least most of the time anyway!

 

[SonCatcher]

I should have added that someone adding a crown for pietistic reasons likely would not have been concerned about matching the crown to the size of the statue. Those following the example of the first example would likely have tried to match it closely.

 

[Marie5890]

I have read when it comes to Our Lady of Lourdes, that Bernadette was disappointed in how she was protrayed in statues.

She appeared to Bernadette as a young maiden of about 12, but the artist who was to render her, was told by the Vatican to make her look more like an adult woman. (Something like that)

 

[Road2Damascus]

This is an old thread and I don’t mean to “bump” it up but the Crown is removable, a key here is that I believe in Fatima Vigils, “maybe” she is Crowned during the all night service. Could size have to do with the fact that each month she is** crowned **as Queen and it is large to make it more accessible? Possibly.

That one fellow who accompanied the Pilgrim statue wrote a book on it that I read, the size of the crown as never addressed directly from what I remember. I have helped carry the statue, 4 of us do and she is like on a platform.

 

[PJM]

=Crumpy;7634200]Can anybody explain the reason that the crown on the statue is so out of proportion to the human features of the statue?

In any ordinary artistic sense, that misproportion would be laughed at. It would be ridiculed, to say the least, as non-professional.

And, yet, to the devotees of the Lady, they apparently don’t see anything wrong or unusual.

What gives with this? Why so much attention to the inanimate part of the image?
What could a crown, oversized at that, add to the image or stature of the Virgin Mary?

UNLESS OF COURSE it in intentional to MAKE a silent point:thumbsup:

Mary is QUEEN of heaven and EARTH because She deservers to be the Queen to Jesus the King

God Bless,

 

[puzzleannie]

this is an old thread, but there is a recent thread, probably on spirituality, about “crowning” statues of the BVM, apparently in the various approved apparitions she has not appeared wearing a crown, but when the devotion becomes popular and an image approved for a statue, someone (the bishop?) an apply for permission to crown the image, and an image should not be crowned unless that approval has been obtained. In otherwords, not a diy project.

some of the older images such as those from the 15th-17th c. are good examples–elaborate garments in liturgical colors, gold decoration, and crowns. Nuestra Senora de San Juan de los Lagos is an example.