Jose Ferreira Thedim

Jose Ferreira Thedim (born September 17, 1892 in São Romão do Coronado , Trofa municipality , Porto district , Portugal ; † 1971 there ) was a Portuguese sculptor whose figure of the Madonna became world-famous in Fátima .

Life

Jose Ferreira Thedim came from a family of sculptors. He lived in the Porto and Trofa area all his life . He had three sons and eight daughters, and many of his children died early. In 1971 Thedim died at the age of 79.

Works

Virgin Mary statue in Fatima

The Virgin Mary statue Nossa Senhora de Fatima was created in 1920 at the request of the wealthy and previously unbelieving businessman Gilberto Fernandes dos Santos from Torres Novas , who took his conversion to the Catholic faith as an opportunity to have the statue built. Jose Ferreira Thedim's brother helped make the figure.

Together with the last living seer of the three seers of Fatima, Lucia dos Santos , Thedim worked out the appearance of the statue. From then on, his workshop was known as Casa Thedim in his hometown . There had to be contemplative calm when he was working on religious sculptures.

The wood for the statue came from Brazil, Brazil wood from the states of São Paulo , Paraná and Santa Catarina .

The crown did not come from Thedim, but from twelve jewelery artists from Portugal and the jeweler Leitão e Irmãos, the most important jewelers in Portugal, which had been in existence for more than two hundred years, who provided the gemstones free of charge. The artists of the crown wanted to create these for the glory of God and Mary for free. It weighs 1200 grams and contains 2,679 precious stones of various kinds. In 1946 it was placed on the statue by the papal legate Aloisi Cardinal Masella . In 1989 a bullet of the assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II was incorporated there.

In 1946 he made a copy as the “Traveling Madonna”, who was to travel all over the world, spreading the spirit of Maria and Fátima everywhere. In 1947 she was sent on a trip around the world. a. to Canada , to Buffalo , Rochester and Bowmansville, to Madrid and Badajoz and in 1984, 2000 and 2013 to Rome .

So far, four popes have stood in front of the statue in Fatima: Pope Paul VI. , Pope John Paul II , Pope Benedict XVI. and Pope Francis .

Other works (selection)

Many churches have sculptures and figures by Jose Ferreira Thedim:

In Bowmansville there is a statue of Mary and Jesus in the local Catholic church
For a Carmelite convent in New York City , which has now been closed, he created a Mary with baby Jesus, which is now in another church in the USA. The Madonna was blessed by Cardinal Francis Spellman .
Virgin Mary statue in the church Sankt Barbara in Forst ( Baden-Württemberg , Germany)
Statue of Mary in the church of Sant'Antonio dei Portoghesi in the Roman district of Campo Marzio

Awards

For his work on the Virgin Mary he received the papal title Commander of the Holy See with the cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice in 1931 by Pope Pius XI. awarded.

swell

Individual evidence

↑ Mamede Bianchi Thedim: The Michelangelo of Portugal. In: Fatima Family Messenger. Fatima Family Apostolate, 1993, p. 25.

personal data
SURNAME	Thedim, Jose Ferreira
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Portuguese sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH	September 17, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH	Sao Romão do Coronado
DATE OF DEATH	1971
Place of death	Sao Romão do Coronado

[1] Mamede Bianchi Thedim: The Michelangelo of Portugal. In: Fatima Family Messenger. Fatima Family Apostolate, 1993, p. 25.