The Catholic news website Aleteia features an article on the plaster Madonna, known as "Our Lady of the Smile", which belonged to St Theresa of Lisieux. The statue is a replica of an 18th-century original in silver by Edmé Bouchardon which once adorned the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.
The statue was more irreverently known as "Our Lady of the Old Silverware" since it was rumoured to have been cast from silver cutlery extorted by the curé, Languet de Gercy, from his parishioners. According to Dr. Richard Clay the melting down of this piece was the Revolution's first officially-sponsored act of iconoclasm.
Have you heard of "Our Lady of Old Silverware?" Thérèse had. (aleteia.org)
Rodama: a blog of 18th-century & Revolutionary France:Richard Clay on iconoclasm
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