A stunning monument to life was installed in Rome last May and is also making its way across the United States.
The Life Monument is the first pro-life sculpture in the Eternal City, according to the work’s creator, Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz.
“Now, more than ever, with the debate going on in the United States, this sculpture, which is in Rome and also in the U.S., is even more meaningful,” Schmalz said. saidreferring to the US Supreme Court Dobbs a decision that was eventually overturned Roe v. Wade.
“It’s a celebration and also a conviction,” Schmalz said. “I wanted to use art to convince people and remind everyone that life is beautiful.”
Monument of Life celebrates the wonder of life and the woman at the center of that wonder through a bronze sculpture depicting the mother and a globe-shaped womb with the unborn child at the center. The design of the sculpture draws the viewer into the center, where the globe-shaped belly created from mirrored steel reflects the viewer. Thus they will see themselves at the center of the artwork, representing their personal connection to the miracle of the creation of human life.
The work invokes the Christ Child and the unborn life.
The pig has worked different sizes of the Monument of Life in different materials for different causes and places, including the 8-foot monumental size, a larger colossal size, a miniature (desktop size), and a charm-sized piece as part of a rosary. He would like to see the sculpture installed in the capitals of the United States as a testament to life, an ongoing project.
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The 8-foot bronze Life Monument installed permanently May 27 in the Church of San Marcello al Corso in Rome is significant for its ability to convey the pro-life message to the world, Schmalz said.
“[I’m] very excited that the eternal city has a representation of an unborn Jesus,” Schmalz told reporters after the installation. “This is the city with the most images of Jesus in the world, and as one cardinal told me, ‘If something comes to Rome , she comes into the world’. I think it’s very moving to have a representation of the sanctity of all life here.”
Marina Casini, president of Movimento per la Vita Italiano, was present for the installation of the Monument to Life in San Marcello.
“The statue is wonderful,” Casini said, “not only for its artistic expression, but also for the message it contains.”
“Women carry the world in their bellies,” she said. “It’s a fantastic message, an ecumenical message.”
Schmalz talked about how art can express the pro-life message in a report from Catholic News Service.
“Artwork has the power to convince, persuade and move people,” he said. “The more representations we have of a mother and child in our visual landscape,” the better.
Schmalz noted the mirror effect of the steel womb that allows viewers to see themselves in the womb and the reminder that all lives begin in the womb.
He thought that, “perhaps this will be a kind of persuasion”, to make people think more deeply about the beauty of all human life.
Tweet this: Women hold the world in their bellies – Monument to Life is a fantastic message.
Schmalz believed it was certain that the installation of the Monument to Life in Rome’s church came as pro-life advocates waited in prayer Dobbs decision. At the time of the installation, the draft majority opinion had been issued on May 2, signaling what was to come later with the issuance of the decision on June 24, which overturned deer.
He spoke of the need to rediscover the value and impact of “the power of the visual” in relation to evangelism for life.
In the past, the visual arts contributed to teaching faith to what was a largely illiterate society, Schmalz said. But today, the problem is not that people can’t read, but that they don’t have time to read.
People “need visual bites,” Schmalz said, and if the Church can continue to “put these positive messages that are relevant out there today, then they’re quietly, subtly evangelizing.”
lard hopes his pro-life message reminds people of their gift of life and that the beauty of art will touch the hearts of those who support legalized abortion.
A colossal 2-1/2 ton version of the statue is on tour across the United States.
Now in the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, it stands in front of the Basilica of Our Lady of San Juan del Valle-National Landmark. The installation involved bringing in a special crane to move it from the maintenance yard to the square at the base of the Basilica steps.
The Life Monument will remain there until the end of August.
Father Jorge Gomez, rector of the Basilica, said“Of all the places he could have gone, we are especially privileged here to have been chosen for his visit.”
Erika Salazar, associate for the Pro-Life Office of the Diocese of Brownsville, shared the diocese’s gratitude:
“She is beautiful! In a special way she explicitly portrays the life she carries in her womb. What is so special about this image is the beauty of seeing humanity and life inside the womb. Working at a center pregnancy, I know firsthand. The importance of a mother seeing her baby with a sonogram. At Our Lady of San Juan del Valle Shrine, people from all walks of life visit. Now we have Our Lady to greet them as they approach intro … such is treatment and life saving. On another note, the timing of her arrival on June 27th was so sure! She arrived just days after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Words cannot describe it the joy that the statue of Our Lady of Life has brought. We are very grateful and feel God’s embrace for our diocese.”
The tour will end at the end of August, with the arrival of Monument to Life currently on tour permanent home in Washington, DCoutside the College of Theology at The Catholic University of America, directly across from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.