Australian Army Museum of Western Australia > Records

World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918

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1918

Overview

Albert. The Basilica after bombardment

Historical information

The Golden Virgin, also known as The Leaning Virgin, is a gilded sculpture by the French artist Albert Roze originally completed in 1897 and installed on the rooftop of the Basilica of Our Lady of Brebières (French: Basilique Notre-Dame de Brebières) in Albert, France.
In 1915, German shelling knocked over the statue, and it nearly toppled again due to shellfire during the 1916 Battle of the Somme and a legend arose around the Leaning Virgin. The British rendition was that whoever knocked her down would lose the war, the Germans apparently believing the opposite. Another version of the legend had it that the fall of the Virgin would signal the end of the war. The details of the various versions seem secondary to the belief by troops of all sides that the Virgin's natural descent was halted temporarily by a Divine Hand so its final destruction could mark the War's end. After falling in 1918 as a result of British bombardment, the statue went missing. Eventually, the statue was recast and replaced in 1929.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-P1978.378.2n

Item type

Photographs

Themes

War and Conflict
War and Conflict > World War 1

Year

1918

Geotag

50.005157148044, 2.6496831142651

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