The statue of the Madonna and Child of Lepanto was discovered

The statue of the Madonna and Child that was on board the royal galley commanded by Don John of Austria, half-brother of King Philip II of Spain, during the Battle of Lepanto, was discovered in 2012.

The Venetians gave the statue of Our Lady of the Rosary to Don John of Austria. Back in Spain after this feat of arms witnessed by the statue of the Mother of God, Don John of Austria donated it upon his death in 1578 to the Brotherhood of the Galleys in the Church of St John Lateran Port of Santa María in Cádiz.

In 1854 the statue was transferred to the Marine Guards Academy of San Fernando, precursor of the Spanish Naval Academy. It was then passed from hand to hand until it was lost, but in 2012 it was delivered back to the Naval Museum of Madrid, where the statue has been restored and exposed to the public. Although the statue has lost one eye, it retains all its supernatural presence.

Adapted from Lepanto