Madonna of the Prairie statue

Sculpture by longtime Iowa State University faculty member Christian Petersen. Following the artist's death it was installed on the Ames campus. The title suggests it depicts a frontier settler and her child. But the sculpture more closely resembles Renaissance-era representations of the Virgin Mary than it does other 20th-century pioneer mother monuments.

Sculpted by former artist-in-residence and long-time Iowa State University faculty member Christian Petersen. Petersen (1885-1961) immigrated from Denmark at the age of 9. He came to Iowa State to participate in the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He then taught in the Home Economics program for 21 years.

After his death, his widow loaned this "Madonna of the Prairie" to the city of Ames for 1 year in the early 1970s. It was installed on the Iowa State campus in 1982.

The sculpture portrays a frontier woman in a pose similar to those of Renaissance-era Madonna paintings and sculptures, holding a young child up close to her body. The mother's flowing gown more closely resembles traditional representations of the Virgin Mary than it does other "prairie madonna" works. Those works typically portray the settler woman in a sunbonnet and prairie-style dress. Most portray her carrying a swaddled infant or leading a young boy as she strides westward.

About Christian Petersen, Christian Petersen Art Museum. Accessed July 1st, 2024. https://www.museums.iastate.edu/visit/christian-petersen-art-museum/about-christian-petersen.

Prescott, Cynthia Culver. Pioneer Mother Monuments: Constructing Cultural Memory. University of Oklahoma Press, 2019.

"Sculpture Gift." Ames Daily Tribune (Ames, IA) May 26th, 1971.