Our Lady of Svatá Hora / Panna Maria Svatohorská - Svatá Hora u Príbrami (Central Bohemia) - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

Depicted statue of Our Lady with Infant Jesus, so called Our Lady of Svatá Hora (Panna Marie Svatohorská), is located on the top of Baroque Marian Column which decorates square in the front of Svatá Hora pilgrimage site in Príbram.

The Marian Column, which construction was financed by Count Jaroslav Jáchym Koc of Dobrš, was ceremonially unveiled in October 31, 1661 during the beginning of the reconstruction of whole pilgrimage site Svatá Hora. Corinthian-type sandstone column stands on Baroque decorated volute pedestal and pyramidal granite square staircase. The statue Our Lady on the column is enlarged replica of famous Our Lady of Svatá Hora wooden statuette, which is key object of worships in Basilica of the Assumption of Virgin Mary (Bazilika Nanebevzetí Panny Marie) in Svatá Hora.

Panna Marie Svatohorská
Original statuette in Basilica (40 cm high)

According to the tradition, Archbishop Arnošt of Pardubice is the author of the wooden statuette of the Our Lady with the Infant Jesus from the mid-14th century. The sculpture was brought to Svatá Hora in the 16th century; soon after processions began to come to this place. In 1647 the Jesuits took over the administration of the place and initiated grand construction on Svatá Hora as a place of pilgrimage. The highest honour for the Virgin Mary of Svatá Hora was her coronation in 1732.

Mary, also known as Saint Mary or the Virgin Mary, is identified in the Bible [Mt 1:16,18-25][Lk 1:26-56][2:1-7] as the mother of Jesus, the founder of the Christian religion. Christians hold her son Jesus to be the Christ or messiah foretold in Jewish scripture, and the God made flesh. Mary (Maryam) also has a revered position in Islam, where a whole chapter of the Qur'an is devoted to her, also describing the birth of Jesus. She is traditionally thought to have lived between c.?18 BC – c.?41 AD. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the Church. Christians of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as Mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God and the Theotokos, literally "Bearer of God". There is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas; namely her status as the mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, the perpetual virginity of Mary, and the Assumption of Mary into Heaven. Many Protestants minimize Mary's role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references.

The Child Jesus (Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, Christ Child) refers to Jesus from his Nativity to age 12. At 13 he was considered to be adult, in accordance with the Jewish custom of his time. The canonical gospels say nothing of Jesus' childhood between his infancy and the Finding in the Temple at the age of twelve. From about the third or fourth century onwards, the child Jesus is frequently shown in paintings, and sculpture. Commonly these are Nativity scenes showing the birth of Jesus, with his mother, Mary, and his legal father Joseph. Depictions as a baby with his mother, known as Madonna and Child, are iconographical types in Eastern and Western traditions. Other scenes from his time as a baby, of his circumcision, presentation at the temple, the Adoration of the Three Magi, and the Flight to Egypt, are common. Scenes showing his developing years are more rare but not unknown.

[excerpted from Wiki]