The National Life Monument Website
The Texas Legislature passed a resolution May 20 to install a statue of the Virgin Mary bearing the unborn Christ child at the state Capitol.
Senate Concurrent Resolution 19, now awaiting Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature, describes the “Texas Life Monument” as “a mother with an unborn child cradled in a world-shaped womb.”
However, the piece, created by renowned Catholic sculptor Timothy Schmalz, is unmistakably Marian. Schmalz, known for spiritually evocative public art, confirmed the statue depicts the Blessed Virgin Mary and the unborn Jesus.
“People are afraid to have children these days,” Schmalz told The Austin Chronicle. “Well, this is a visual argument against that, and this is saying life is beautiful, so let’s embrace it, and let’s have more beautiful humans being created.”
He noted that it was fitting that the 8-foot statue would be used to celebrate unborn life in Texas, stating, “What better place than a place that is, in a sense, responsible for the protection of the new mothers within the world?”
The steel bowl in the statue, conveying the womb area where unborn Jesus is depicted, is meant to reflect the viewer or catch the light of the sun, according to Schmalz. Schmalz also said that the piece draws on the artistic traditions of the Annunciation, adding, “This one just has a window so you can see what’s inside.”
Schmalz’s Homeless Jesus, funded by an unknown donor, has been displayed in downtown Austin at Central Presbyterian Church since 2015. The senate resolution stipulated that private donors would fund the Texas Life Monument.
Schmalz’s first version of the Texas Life Monument statue was actually installed at the church of San Marcello al Corso in Rome in 2022, and another version is displayed at the Theological College, which is the national seminary of the Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C.
Schmalz explained that the statue’s multiple locations indicate that motherhood should be universally celebrated.
“This does not look like a normal Mary with the blue veil and everything like that,” Schmalz said. “Of course it does have a veil, but that’s just part of the form that represents that swirl within the piece, but I hope that one can see their own mother in it.”
The Life of the Mother Act also went to the governor’s desk on May 21.
