Iconography of the Lourdes Virgin traces its origins to the apparition of the Blessed Virgin to 14-year-old peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous, who was gathering firewood in a forest. The Virgin Mary appeared to her in the Massabielle cave and instructed her to build a chapel at the site, making it a place of grace for the people. There, Bernadette discovered a previously unknown spring, which has since been considered miraculous. The place later gained widespread fame after a series of miraculous healings.

On April 4, 1864, a statue of the “Our Lady of the Rosary” was placed and consecrated in the grotto, sculpted by Joseph-Hugues Fabisch. Although its iconography follows the typical form of “Our Lady of the Rosary,” the “Our Lady of Lourdes” has several features inspired by the visions of Bernadette Soubirous: “I saw a lady dressed in white, in a white gown, a blue belt, and a yellow rose on each foot, the same color as the beads of her rosary; the beads were white… From a niche, or rather from a dark recess behind her, a blinding light came forth.”

Another statue was created by sculptor Joseph-Ignaz Raffl in 1871 and was crowned on July 2, 1876. This statue is located on the esplanade of the Lourdes shrine. The work became a model for many mass-produced copies and variations, many of which have been documented in Lviv, including at locations such as 9 Promyslova Street, 31 M. Samokish Street, 14A Hrodnytska Street, 11 Kyivska Street, 15 O. Petrusenka Street, 6 Barvynskykh Street, 40 Braty Mikhnovskykh Street, 8 S. Vasylchenka Street, 19 Vesnyana Street, 47 I. Vyhovskogo Street, 13 Virmenska Street, and 37 Heroes of UPA Street. A somewhat unique example is the sculptural group near the Greek Catholic chapel of the Dognal group on Pluhova Street, 6, where, in front of the decorative grotto, not only is the Virgin Mary depicted, but also a small statue of Bernadette Soubirous.

Skop M., Sacred Sculpture in Public Spaces of Lviv, 1992-2023: Iconography and Presentation Concepts. Lviv, 2023.