One point should be made and that is that the statue of Our Lady of Lourdes was developed AGAINST the expressed wishes of St Bernadette.
The apparition that St Bernadette said she saw at Lourdes had no resemblance whatever to the famous Lourdes statue, according to the words of Bernadette herself.
In fact, the Mother of God at Lourdes resembled the Theotokos as depicted on Eastern icons!
When Bernadette visited the shrine of Our Lady of Grace in northern France, she saw the (Byzantine) icon of Our Lady of Grace venerated there (I have the shrine booklet with copies at home, but I think they also have a website).
When she did, she exclaimed, "That is how Our Lady appeared to me! Exactly like that!"
When the RC authorities prepared the statue, Bernadette was not happy with it and said it bore no resemblance whatever to the Theotokos who appeared to her at the Grotto.
Here is the icon of Our Lady of Grace that Bernadette said was the best representation of Our Lady at Lourdes:
http://campus.udayton.edu/mary/questions/yq/yq236.htmlAlex
