A sculpture of Our Lady with the Child, dating from the mid-16th century and standing 114 centimeters tall, was presented at the Funchal Museum of Sacred Art. The oak wood piece was donated to the Autonomous Region of Madeira by ENOTEL – Hotels management and Modelo Continente Hipermercados, as part of a cultural patronage initiative.
The artwork, valued at 45,000 euros, was jointly funded by the two donating companies. The President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, signed the donation contract and emphasized the importance of recovering the image for Madeira's heritage, likening cultural patronage to an ethical practice to be cultivated.
According to Francisco António Clode Sousa, Director of Cultural Heritage Services, the sculpture might be the same one that disappeared from the main altar of Funchal Cathedral in 1566 during a French corsair attack, although no documentation confirms this link. The image, previously in the collection of Commander Ernesto Vilhena in Lisbon, will undergo restoration before potentially being placed on the main altar's reredos in the Cathedral.
