Mary Archer Doesn't Like Ely's 'Charlie Dimmock'
By MoonRambler | Wednesday, February 01, 2012, 01:35
It seems that Dr Mary Archer isn't a fan of the Ely Cathedral statue of the Virgin Mary that has become known to locals as 'Charlie Dimmock'.
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The controversial sculpture of the Virgin Mary in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral
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The controversial sculpture of the Virgin Mary in the Lady Chapel of Ely Cathedral
During her visit to the Cathedral to open the Quaker Tapestry Exhibition, Dr Archer – wife of author Jeffrey Archer – joked about the gaudy statue in the Lady Chapel, referring to it as a "multicoloured Madonna". To the amusement of the assembled crowd, she ended her speech by suggesting that as she was opening a tapestry exhibition, maybe someone could "embroider something to go over it".
She is not alone in expressing distaste for the statue. At the time of its installation in 2000, the News Of The World reported that visitors to the Lady Chapel were moaning that 'the strawberry blonde Madonna looks like bra-less TV gardener Charlie Dimmock'. Other critics described it as the 'Virgin of the Wet T-shirt', while one letter of complaint to the cathedral referred to it as a 'cult idol of some Northern European pagan Goddess'.
The sculpture by David Wynne was unveiled by his friend the Prince of Wales in the face of objections from the Cathedrals Fabric Commission for England, who said at the time they 'did not consider that the proposed sculpture was appropriate for the context'.
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Comments
Contrary to popular opinion, Mary Archer must have immaculate taste. I'm not a big fan of 'the peroxide Madonna' myself!
By billie70 at 18:46 on 01/02/12
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