Since Friday, the Cathedral of Our Lady in Linz, Austria, has been displaying a statue of Our Lady sitting on a rock and giving birth. The statue is called the "crowning." It is made of lime wood, and will remain in a chapel on the west side for another three weeks.
The main responsible is Bishop Manfred Scheuer of Linz.
Artist Esther Strauss explains in a flyer at the entrance to the chapel that Our Lady is the most painted woman in the world, but the moment of birth is not to be found in any painting or sculpture [for obvious reasons].
She believes that "in Christianity, the mother goddesses of antiquity have been transformed into the a-sexual mother goddess".
Her aim is to dominate the interpretation of Christmas, which "for so long has been dominated by men's fantasies and interests": "Or we can go all out and give birth to a new interpretation."
#newsJmltbotqyc