AVE MARIA, Fla. — A southwest Florida university has unveiled a 54-ton sculpture of the Virgin Mary.

Hundreds gathered at Ave Maria University for the unveiling Friday. It took the sculptor two years to carve the 35-foot-tall, 31-foot-wide sculpture.

He started with an 80-ton block of marble that came from the same quarry Michelangelo used for the Pieta and David sculptures.

The sculpture was blessed by Bishop Frank Dewane of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Venice.