Ariel Lacombe is a second-year PhD student at Queen’s University studying devotional sculptures of the late medieval and early modern periods. Her research focuses on image cults, miraculous images, popular piety, and various rituals performed on sacred sculptures. She explores the cross-cultural exchange of aesthetics and religious practices between Eastern and Western Europe, examining how these influences shaped rituals in southern Italy. She completed her master’s degree at Queen’s University, where she wrote a major research paper on the Madonna del Sorriso, a significant cult image in Campobasso, Molise. Ariel is currently working with her supervisor, Dr. Una D’Elia, on a database that catalogues hundreds of Renaissance polychrome sculptures from across Italy. The database includes high-resolution images and detailed descriptions, all of which can be freely downloaded and used in publications and research.