Maria Immaculata

The figure is part of the sculptural decoration of the portico from the time of the cathedral’s reconstruction in the Neo-Gothic spirit (1873-75) according to the designs of J.K. Lüdecke.

A figural sculpture, en pied, depicting the Immaculata in a prayerful pose, standing on a pedestal – a crescent moon and the globe with a coiling serpent. The face has an idealized beauty maintained in the devotional, 19th-century canon of the youthful image of the Immaculate Mary. The figure is in a slight contrapposto, with a slightly tilted head and clasped hands. The hair falls onto the shoulders in symmetrical locks. The garments – a dress and a cloak – cover the figure snugly. The dress is gathered in small folds falling to the feet. The cloak is tied at the collarbone with a ribbon and softly wraps around the figure, exposing the outlines of the right leg and bare foot. The cloak forms circular folds around the elbows, transitioning into diagonal drapery folds on the left side of the figure.

Canopy: (Neo-Gothic, circa 1873-1875, portico reconstruction designed by Karl Ludecke, approx. 110×60 cm) architectural, massive, with an openwork lower part, attachment to the decision – item 218 octagonal with tracery wall decoration (trefoil-cross motif with bud-like crockets). The canopies are topped with an octagonal column with crenellation.

Corbel: (Neo-Gothic, circa 1873-1875, portico reconstruction designed by Karl Lüdecke, approx. 60×60 cm) massive, floral – 6 stylized leaves of a coiled fern (at the bottom) and 3 spreading palmettes growing from them in a fan shape.