From what I’ve read about Brother Joseph Zoettl, O.S.B. (1878-1961), he wouldn’t have cared whether he was depicted in bronze or not. Be that as it may, many years after his death, Br. Joseph stands facing his creation, the Ave Maria Grotto, on the grounds of St. Bernard Abbey near Cullman, Alabama.

Driving north from Montgomery toward Decatur on the afternoon of May 17, we weren’t about to miss the grotto. It features 150 or so miniature replicas of famous buildings, almost all created by Br. Joseph over three decades, out of found materials.

“Originally from Landschutt, Bavaria-Germany, a young Br. Joseph found himself headed to America to pursue monastic life at Alabama’s only Benedictine Abbey,” the abbey web site says.

“Little did anyone know that this young Bavarian would end up leaving the abbey its greatest legacy and in an incredibly humble way. Since 1934, people from around the world visit the Ave Maria Grotto to see famous parts of the world in miniature. The former abbey quarry is now the four-acre park that the Grotto and surrounding miniatures rest upon.”

Many of the structures are perched on the side of a slope, with a path winding down below for a look at them.

As you’d expect, most of the structures replicate Christian churches or shrines or scenes, such as the First Christmas.
A wayside shrine, modeled after those popular in Latin America.
Lourdes Basilica and Grotto.
St. Martin’s in Landshut, Bavaria. This was one of the few structures that Br. Joseph had actually seen. The rest he did working off photos — postcards especially.
Sometimes, Br. Joseph decided to build something a little less religious. Such as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Or “Hansel and Gretel Visit the Castle of the Fairies.” I don’t remember that part of the story. Maybe it was part of the sequel: Hansel and Gretel vs. the Fairies of Doom.
Roadside America: “The Grotto is not some holy shrine that got out of control. From the start, it was conceived as an over-the-top public attraction.

“Using only basic hand tools, Brother Joseph would shape cement into a replica building, then give it some zing with marbles, seashells, cracked dinner plates, or bicycle reflectors. Tiny-but-majestic domes were fashioned from old birdcages and toilet tank floats.”

The abbey includes a good deal more than the grotto.
There’s a church and school, and a few minute’s walk from the grotto, a cemetery for the monks. Br. Joe’s cross is in there somewhere.