Marble Virgin Mary Statue
"A White Carrera marble Virgin Mary statue was vandalized at Christ the King Church,
Ludlow, MA. They broke the thumbs and fingers off both hands.
The church searched for one year until they found Universal Fine Art Conservation. They said they were ready to contract sculptors from Italy. "
1.) We chose to replicate the hands, as opposed to only the fingers and thumb, in order to minimize the visibility of repairs. This made the repairs more structurally sound and vandalism resistant, as well.
2.) After the hands were cut off at the junction of the sleeve, a clay impression was taken of the circumference of the wrist.
3.) From the circumference, new hands were proportionately carved in the studio.
4.) Several blocks of marble were brought on location to match the color of the cut cross-section of the wrist.
5.) The marble was correctly matched, but it visually appeared too white because the statue had been outside for 60 years. Eventually, the new marble hands will blend as they weather.
6.) The clay hand model was tried on the statue for any final adjustments before installation.
7.) New hands were carved, and attached with heavy gauge twisted copper wire, and then adhered with color matched epoxy resin.
8.) The repairs were virtually invisible because the cuts were made at the transitional point of where the sleeve began.
Father Ray Soltys was elated to see the Blessed Virgin Mary statue finally restored.
Both the church and the insurance company were happy to have this resolved.
Vandals broke her hands
Enlargement
After Restoration