The Triumph of Mary in the Celestial Court

The crowning of the Virgin Mary by her Son is an ancient iconographic theme depicting the triumph of Mary in the heavenly court. In the mid-19th century, the crowning of statues of the Madonna was frequent. Oftentimes, the crown is part of the sculpture itself, as in the monumental cast iron statue of Our Lady of France in Le-Puy-en-Velay (1860). As it reads at the shrine, "the Virgin has a crown because she is the Queen of the shrine, of the city, of the region, of France, and of the World. She is crowned with stars, as John saw her in the Apocalypse, because she is Queen of the twelve Apostles and of the Universality of Angels and Saints." ¹

Mary wears a single crown, but her sovereignty is multiple. Her crown symbolizes her universal influence over this Earth and a seat of primacy in Heaven.

Translated from: Claude Langlois, Une romanisation des pèlerinages ? In: Mélanges de l'École française de Rome. Italie et Méditerranée, volume 117, n°2. 2005

¹ P. Nampon, Histoire de Notre-Dame de France, Le Puy, 1868