The Virgin and Child statue was created in St-Béat marble in 2009 by Harutyum Yekmalyan, an Armenian sculptor from Georgia, during the Festival of Sculpture and Marble in Saint-Béat.
This work depicts a Virgin and Child full of tenderness, a symbol of maternity and spirituality. Its refined style, inspired by Armenian tradition, is reminiscent of Russian dolls, with only the Child’s face emerging from the Mother’s drapery, their heads forming a superimposed figure.
It faces the other Virgin of Saint-Béat, erected on the promontory of the château and dating from the 19th century.
Harutyun Yekmalyan lives in the village of Châtel-Montagne in the Allier department. He exhibits his sculptures there and gives tours of his studio. He is a graduate of the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux- Arts d’Erevan, in monumental sculpture. In 2003, he became a member of the Syndicat National des Sculpteurs et Plasticiens de France. He was also a member of the Union of Artists of Armenia and a member of the International Association of Plastic Arts at UNESCO in 1995.
