It’s a monumental project, certainly, but it only takes place every 30 years. The monumental statue of the Good Mother, which overlooks the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde basilica, in Marseille, will be re-gilded for the fifth time since the 19th century, at a cost of nearly 2.5 million euros, announced this Tuesday, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline.
Work on the statue of the Virgin and Child, emblematic of France’s second city, will last 10 months, between September 2024 and January 2025, indicated the diocese of Marseille, calling on individuals and businesses to make donations. The name of each donor will be inscribed on a heart-shaped ex-voto, announced the diocese, adding that patrons have already committed, such as the shipowner CMA CGM. The basilica, which attracts more than two million visitors each year, will remain open during the work.
A new, more durable gilding
This renovation is necessary every 30 years. The previous ones took place in 1989, 1963, 1936 and 1897, according to Xavier David, architect in charge of the site. However, technological developments should allow the renovation to last longer. Fifty years this time, he hopes.
Some 30,000 gold leaves will be applied to the statue by “a team of five to six gilders”, detailed the architect. The work will also concern the metal structure of the statue, the bell tower, the angels in the bell tower and even the cleaning of the crypt.
Mgr Aveline insisted on “the symbolic importance of Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde”, ensuring that the “Good Mother” evoked the values of welcome and dignity to the people of Marseillais.
Marseille is “a city where the population, for the most part, arrived from elsewhere […] because of various problems of war, famine, poverty, corruption,” recalled the cardinal. The statue, perched on top of a hill, offers “pride in an identity”.