Renaissance Baroque Italian French Bronze Madonna Mary Of Sorrows Statue Statuette ! Composed of copper bronze, typical for the renaissance, specially Italian, but might be French. Approximately 6.5 cm (2  9/16 inches) in height, and approximately 4.9 cm (1  15/16 inches) from finger tips to opposite hand finger tips. This Madonna of sorrows is dressed in fashion of the nuns in that time frame, particularly as an Augustinian nun, but I have seen nun in the Dominican order dress in similar fashion at that time. There are painting and sculptures of Saint Teresa of Ávila (1515-1582) dressed in almost identical fashion. Sister Plautilla Nelli (1524-1588) was the first female Renaissance painter of Florence belonging to the Dominican order who is also presented in the same fashion of dress. She was self taught and copied the works of Agnolo Bronzino, and her convent became a center for female artist, so who knows, perhaps this little beauty was one of their creations ?! Nuns were expected to dress in similar conservative manner as our beloved mother Mary, thus the vale and head cover which is very common amongst todays devoted female muslims, the hijab, which some moronic western nations want to ban under the claim of democratic values, talk about hypocrisy ?!! I truly admire young ladies who even though have incredible beauty to show off, but instead opt for extreme humility, sadly extremely rare in this day and age, which in my opinion is a main reason for the collapse of society and the destruction of humanity, for life is no longer mostly about true love and devotion, which unfortunately has mostly been replaced by lust and greed. Even though I believe the Catholic church has been abducted by big finance, I still believe that the Catholic church is the best representation for Christianity but needs some serious internal re-organization and reformation, I believe that it would be better to reform the Catholic church from within then create alternatives which are even more corrupt. Going back to this miniature little devotional bronze, the design convinces me it is definitely of the Renaissance era, and such an art piece typically would sit next to a Renaissance alter cross perhaps with another figure of Saint John. Mother Mary's veil being pointed upwards at the top is no coincidence but by design showing her connection to heaven, while her hands tilted upwards symbolizing her surrender to God and his will, absolutely beautiful ! In the photos I illustrate a hole on her head where once there would have been a halo which is now missing. I thought of placing a beautiful golden one in its place since that would cause no harm or damage to the original art work. Her eyes are closed with a facial expression of sorrow as well as tranquility in her surrender to God, sublime, an art piece that truly expresses a mothers lost of a true martyr who sacrificed himself for the betterment of all mankind, for as we all know Jesus was not a racist but all inclusive ! He would never violently hurt people because they happen to be born into another culture and religion, for that is what it is to be a true Christian (like Christ) as much as humanly possible. He would never fight in wars to take other peoples resources, yet alone destroy one group, rob them of their future and resources for the betterment of another group of lazy and hypocritical tyrants. Art pieces depicting the Madonna of the Sorrows which predate Michelangelo, inspired him in the creation of his Pieta which is considered one of the most beautiful sculptures in the Christian world ! Very rare find, a great art piece for meditation and contemplation ! Check out my other Museum Quality Collection !

Be True & God Bless !