Statue of the Blessed Virgin Present at the Battle of Lepanto has Been Found

 

The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary that was on board the royal galley commanded by Don John of Austria, half brother of King Philip II of Spain, during the Battle of Lepanto, has been discovered.

Our Lady of the Rosary was offered to Don John of Austria by the Venetians. Back in Spain after this feat of arms witnessed by the statue of the Mother of God, it was donated by Don John of Austria upon  his death in 1578 to the Brotherhood of the Galleys in the church of St. John Lateran Port of Santa María in Cádiz.

In 1854 the statue was transferred to the Marine Guards Academy of San Fernando, precursor of the Spanish Naval Academy. It was then passed from hand to hand until it was lost, but recently it was delivered back to the Naval Museum of Madrid, where the statue will be restored and then exposed to the public. Although the statue has lost one eye, it retains all its supernatural presence.