Garden art

I've walked past this rather nice Virgin Mary from time to time and been impressed by its setting. The people who live here have created a beautiful garden and it's always maintained. It was only when I started playing with the photo that I noticed Mary had no hands. I was also intrigued by the inscription on the rock so I looked it up and found Our Lady of La Vang refers to a reported apparition of the Virgin Mary at a time when Catholics were persecuted and killed in Vietnam. Note the gold vertical patterning on her robe, typical of Vietnamese painting. All depictions I found of Our Lady of La Vang had her holding the baby Jesus. Note the damage to her front between her missing hands. It seems someone has vandalised this statue, broken off and stolen the hands and the baby. What a horrible thing to do.

The extra also fits into the category of garden art, in my view. Maybe someone chucking out a toilet, or maybe someone inspired by a Marcel Duchamp readymade.

Stay well blippers.