New Mother and Child Sculpture Graces Campus

July 02, 2010

A sculpture depicting Mary with the infant Jesus in her arms now greets visitors at the front of the Chapel of Mary, Mother of the Church. Standing eight feet tall atop a 16 inch base, the sculpture adds a new dimension to Blessed Basil Moreau Way, giving the long walkway a terminal point near the chapel doors.

The creation of acclaimed sculptor Sylvia Nicolas, the work was installed in early June and stems, in part, from a gift by the Class of 1957 at its 50th reunion in 2007. The members of the class wanted the College to have a statue of Mary gracing the main center of Catholic worship on campus.

"There is a reflective, meditative quality to this depiction of Mary holding her child in her arms," said Counselor to the President, Rev. Robert J. Kruse, C.S.C. '55 who was a member of the committee that chose the artist.

Whether in her paintings, drawings, sculpture or stained glass, Nicolas expresses the humanity of her subjects. The Dutch born artist immigrated to the United States in the late 1930s and comes from four generations of master stained glass artists. Now living in Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, she is also an accomplished painter and considers herself a storyteller across several mediums.

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