Sapele-Wood
12 copies signed and numbered
14 cm | 5.5 in
MARIA sapele-wood.
The handheld Icon of Mary.
12 copies signed and numbered.
Carved in sapele-wood.
Delivered along with fabric bag, artist’s certificate and flyer, with a special glass cylinder and cardboard container.
14 cm | 5.5 in
By checking out, please indicate in the Customer Notes the number of the copy of the limited edition you have chosen between the ones on display. Thank you.
This wood gets its name from the city of Sapele in southern Nigeria, country, along with Togo and Bénin, where Guido Dettoni spent long periods of time in the seventies and eighties practicing the arts. On October 20, 2019, on the occasion of the 59th Independence Day of Nigeria, the Catholic community found in the local Marian Society, which unusually represents MARIA with Jesus’ heart on her chest, the strength to witness the drama of today’s world. As the Rev. Fr Innocent Obi, chaplain of the Diocesan Youth Commission of Sapele and member of the Marian Society, said, King Herod wanted to annihilate Jesus from birth and now the Herod of our time, the power that represents the few who want poverty, unemployment, insecurity and slavery of the many tries to annihilate millions of people -a new massacre of the innocents- not only in Nigeria but in the world. The wood of Sapele, chosen by Guido Dettoni to dress MARIA, wants to remind us of it, thus becoming the symbol of the fight against Herod. The local tradition tells that this wood identifies with spirituality and inner growth.
The story of a work. The journey of an artist. The meaning of a symbol.
A journey into the creative universe of Guido Dettoni della Grazia through MARIA, one of the most significant works of contemporary sacred art.
Published posthumously by the Santa Maria delle Rose Cooperative, this volume represents Guido Dettoni della Grazia’s final editorial legacy and is the most comprehensive publication devoted to MARIA, bringing together texts, images and documents that tell its complete story.