World War 1, Europe, France, Albert,1918
1918Albert cathedral with leaning Madonna
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
Details
Open in Google Maps
Nearest geotagged records:
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1914 (0km away)
- World War 1, Europe, France, Albert, 1918 (0km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918 (0km away)
- World War 1, Europe, 1917 (0.01km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918 (0.11km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918 (0.11km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918 (0.19km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1914 (0.2km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918 (0.2km away)
- World War 1, Europe France Albert, 1918 (0.2km away)
View all geotagged records...
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
More items like this
Other items from Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
- World War 1, Europe, Menin Road,1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, Belgium, Ypres, 1918
- World War 2, Australia, Western Australia, Fremantle, Artillery Barracks, 1944
- World War 1, Western Australia, 1918
- World War 1, Europe, 1916