About the school's statue This statue of Our Lady of Victories stood above the main doors of an old school building. We were asked to restore the statue as part of the renovations taking place to convert the building into a home.
The school was built around 1860 and the statue is fashioned after those produced by Mayers and co. of Munich. This company was founded in 1847 by Josef Gabriel Mayer and still exists today, albeit now producing stained glass windows. During the period that a sculptor was born into this artistic dynasty, they produced statuary in a number of different materials. The school statue was made in the type of durable Terracotta that Victorians used for the water systems of England. We have restored a number of statues by Mayers and Co. The figures are realistically modelled, with fine attention to detail. Few companies today produce religious figures comparable to their standard.
It did not suprise me to find that in 1882, Mayers and Co was given the status of 'Royal Bavarian art establishment' by King Ludwig 2nd and in 1892 was named the Ponitifica Institute of Christian art by Pope Leo XIII.
It was because of these honours, that work produced by Mayers became the gold standard for churches and encouraged companies to copy their style.
Statue repair and restoration The statue of Our Lady of Victories had acquired some moss, lichen and also some repair works. The old repairs were probably carried out by one of the school's caretakers by using what ever came to hand to keep it together. These areas we tackled first.
Photos below show the statue with all the old paint, lichen and poor repairs removed, and another of the statue newly repaired.
Below: Photos show the statue of Our Lady of Victories before and after her restoration.
When David returned the figure, there was a lot of building activity around the site of the school, so we didn't see how she looked when she was returned to her niche. The new owner was delighted with the results. Thanks to the new owner, a little piece of Christian hertitage has been preserved and Our Lady of Victories will be the patron of all future occupants of that new home for years to come.
