WW II religious sculptures – part 2

Continuing our review of the religious stone sculptures found in one of the World War II shelters in Malta, these 4 relate to the Blessed Mother, Our Lady of Sorrows and St. Therese of Lisieux, who had been canonized in 1925, and so, popular devotion towards her was still very common in the early 1940s. Limestone in Malta is known as globigerina limestone and easy to carve, but this artist must have had some training to be able to carve these images. 

Most probably there could have been a school for artists in the vicinity of Pieta where these sculptures were discovered. They were found in fairly good condition through a corridor that leads to the main shelter. Notice that all of them have a small hole on the left-hand side, for a candle to be placed there, not visible in all these photos, but it's there in all the sculptures. Malta was heavily bombed during the war by the Germans and Italians, and was often referred to as ‘an unsinkable air-craft-carrier.’ 1,581 Maltese civilians were killed as a result of enemy action. 3,780 civilians were injured, and 50,000 people were made homeless as a result of enemy bombings. There were a total of 3,343 air raids recorded over Malta, with 2,031 (60%) of these raids coming in 1942 alone, 282 of them in the month of April.

The figure of St.Therese of Lisieux, holding a cross and flowers.