The Virgin Mary (Notre Dame)

The figure on top of the Golden Dome stood in the University of Notre Dame's plans long before there was any gold. After the Great Fire of 23 April 1879 destroyed the Main Building, founder Rev. Edward Sorin had it rebuilt in months, but wanted a dome crowned with a statue of Our Lady. In 1844 he had written: "To that lovely Lady, raised high on a dome, a Golden Dome, men may look and find the answer." The statue is by Giovanni Meli. According to the university's Notre Dame Stories, it shows Mary on a half globe, with a crescent moon and a serpent under her feet, as described in the Book of Revelation. It stood on the front porch while the iron-framed, wood-clad dome was built, and was placed on top once the dome was largely finished in October 1883. The university reports that Sorin then insisted on gilding it; the Holy Cross council refused the expense until the dispute was settled in 1886. Notre Dame News said in May 2023 that the coming work would be the 12th regilding of the dome and statue, the first having been in 1886 and the previous one in 2005; Notre Dame Stories reports that the 2023 project took just under five months and regilded about 7,000 square feet. Figures differ between university pages. In 2023 the news office gave the statue as 17 feet tall and the dome as added in 1883, while Notre Dame Hospitality gives 19 feet, 4,000 pounds and 1882. Notre Dame Hospitality lists free campus tours from the Eck Visitors Center that include the Main Building, and the university's visit page says tours are led by students.