Virgin of Montserrat (Virgin Mary)

Country: Spain

Manufactory: Lladro

Date of establishment: 1996

Sculptor: Francisco Catala

Size (cm): 44*19

Porcelain Story

Those who at least once had a chance to climb a steep one-way road to the top of a mountain, barely visible far in the clouds, can probably understand my feelings. Heavy rain, a huge tourist bus slowly crawling up for an hour and a half, an endless abyss outside the window...

And suddenly, having passed through (in the full sense of the word), it would seem, an endless gray cloud, we found ourselves on the sun-drenched peak of Montserrat!

It was in Spain, about 70 kilometers from Barcelona. The ancient temple shook with the improbability of its size - it is hard to even imagine how the builders managed to raise a huge amount of stone blocks to such a height many centuries ago. A marvelous choir of boys performed an angelic melody, pouring as if straight from the blue sky in which we all lived...

It was some kind of miracle. But an even greater miracle seemed to me a statue of the Virgin Mary, carved from stone, sitting in the depths of the temple. Her face and hands were black. We asked why. They explained to us: during the years of the terrible plague epidemic, which killed tens of thousands of Spaniards, it was Maria of Montserrat who took upon herself all the horror of the rampant misfortune, thereby managing to save millions of people ...

This was my first acquaintance with this beautiful image of St. Mary, which is presented to your attention. Later, I visited that unusual church several more times and, of course, I forever remembered the holy maiden with black hands and face. That is why, having once met this very rare porcelain work, I could not pass by. Now it is in our collection.