Sainte Dévote

Saint Devota is the patron saint of the Principality and of the Sovereign Family. Her feast day is celebrated on 27 January. Devota was a young Christian girl, martyred in the reign of Diocletian in AD 304, by the consul Barbarus, then governor of Corsica. Her body was placed on a boat which, guided by a dove and carried by the storm, eventually washed ashore on the beach of the Vallon des Gaumates, at the port of Monaco. Her body was entombed in the small chapel that stood beside the water. It is said that the monks who lived nearby, not knowing the name of the young martyr, called her Dei Vota.
Legend has it that, owing to the numerous miracles attributed to the Saint, her precious relics were stolen by sailors who thought to escape by sea. But an unfavourable wind arose and prevented them from leaving port. Seeing this, the people of Monaco captured the thieves and recovered the relics. Since then, the Saint has been venerated in Monaco and her name is invoked in prayers asking for her protection or blessing.
Commissioned by Prince Rainier III, this statue of the Saint was officially unveiled on 26 January 1997 at a ceremony attended by the Princely Family and the artist, on the 700th anniversary of the Grimaldis.

Cyril de La Patellière was born on October 6, 1950 in Saint Nazaire (Loire Atlantique). He studied art in Nice, then turned to a graphic designer and poster artist. From 1983, he devoted himself to painting and sculpture (bronze and marble). He exhibited in Paris at the Salon d'Automne and won the Prix de la Ville de Nice in 1986 and the Prix Paul Belmondo in 1989 awarded by the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In sculpture, painting, watercolor and sanguine, his favorite theme is the female nude. Among his major works is the statue of the Patron Saint of Monaco, which was installed on the square of the church of Sainte-Dévote and inaugurated in 1997 in the presence of the Princely Family.