A familiar sight to every good Catholic: a statuette of the Virgin Mary, covered with its typical bell jar. In all shapes and sizes and often home assembled, such Virgin Mary images once occupied the place of honour in almost every Flemish living room. The Virgin Mary is not just the Mother of God. She is also venerated in several other capacities – Virgin, Queen, Bride, Mediatrix, Perpetual Helper... Countless unexplained occurrences, miraculous healings and apparitions are connected with her. Equally countless are the pilgrimages to Marian sites around the world, festivals in her honour and processions in which her statues are carried around. But the Virgin Mary was also present in every Flemish home, in everything from paintings, statuettes, prints, candles and rosaries to all kinds of religious souvenirs, such as postcards, medals, bottles of Holy Water and miniature Lourdes grottos, because above all else Mary was also a mother, and thus also an example for all mothers. Countless children had devotional medals pinned to their vests or sewn into their clothing and equally many were dedicated to her in one of their names.