Virgin Mary bust statue looking down

The downward-gazing Mary — head tilted, eyes lowered — is the image of the Mater Dolorosa, the Mother of Sorrows. It depicts her either at the Annunciation, accepting her unimaginable calling, or at the foot of the Cross, witnessing the death of her son. Either reading carries the same weight: the meeting of the divine and the human in a single human heart.