ABSTRACT
A low-lying black marble loculus frames and protects the sculpted body of a young girl that nestles inside it. The recumbent figure is at once separated from the luxuriant splendour of the surrounding altar wall and its central focus (Figure 3.1). The feast-day Mass, celebrated at the high altar raised above the statue, has just finished and members of the congregation, ordinarily contained by a gated balustrade, hasten forward to pay their respects to the saint. Politely jostling for a position to kneel before the statue, each person in turn lightly touches it, occasionally kissing it on the head, neck and shoulder, in gestures of deep reverence (Figures 3.2, 3.3).
