A 539-year-old lady

Crafted from Ançã stone, a light-coloured limestone that is very common in the Cantanhede region, this statue of Our Lady of the Conception exhibited in the Leça da Palmeira parish church, is one of the council’s most important works of art.

It is almost two metres high and was sculpted in 1483 by the master from Coimbra Diogo Pires “The Elder”, considered the last great Portuguese sculptor of Gothic art. Commissioned by King Afonso V, the sculpture depicts the Virgin Mary holding the Child and, at the time, cost 23 thousand réis.