Statues - Hither & Thither

 

Description

Sandstone statue commissioned by Mikuláš Karlach in honour of the Vyšehrad canon and Czech martyr.

Inscription(s)

Saint John of Nepomuk

As confessor of the queen of Bohemia he refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. At the behest of King Wenceslaus of Bohemia he was thrown from the Charles Bridge in Prague and drowned. John of Nepomuk is patron saint of bridges.
His figure is often encountered in Central and Eastern Europe, including the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, Poland and Lithuania. He is usually portrayed with a halo of five stars, commemorating the stars that hovered over the Vltava River on the night of his murder, also is said that the five stars are supposed to symbolize the five letters of Latin word "tacet", which means "silent".
Other attributes are a priestly dress, the palm of martyrs and a large crucifix, to which he is usually looking.
As additional figures there are often one of more little angels, respectively indicating silence by a finger over the lips, with a crucifix and with the bible.

There are several sites listing statues of Saint John of Nepomuk:

World
• Treffpunkt Schoener-Reisen, Sankt Nepomuk, der Brückenheilige
• Gerhard Eichinger, Nepomuk Sammlung [➝ Geschichte(n) ➝ Nepomuk Sammlung]
• Wedigo von Wedel, www.brueckenheilige.de.
  Czechia
• Saxa Loquuntur, Svatý Jan Nepomucký: Svatojánské sochy v českých a moravských krajských mĕstech (Saint John of Nepomuk: Statues of Saint John in the regional capitals of Bohemia and Moravia)
• Wikipedia, Seznam soch svatého Jana Nepomuckého v Praze ( List of statues of Saint John of Nepomuk in Prague).
  Poland
• Nepomuki, with Chronostychy Nepomucki (chronograms on Nepomuk statues).

Artists

• František Ducháček, Czech sculptor.
  
• Josef Ducháček, Czech sculptor.

Sources & Information

• Bazilika sv. Petra a Pavla na Vyšehradě, Vyšehradská zastavení.

Tags

• Town: Praha
• Kraj: Hlavní mĕsto
• Country: Czechia
• Duchacek, František
• Ducháček, Josef

Location (N 50°3'52" - E 14°25'10") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

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