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Kutná Hora
Středočeský kraj Husova 2 / Šultysova 1 |
Svatý Jan NepomuckýSaint John of NepomukNepomuk c. 1345 - Praha 1393confessor of the queen of Bohemia; patron saint of bridges (Wikipedia) |
artist unknown
2015 |
Wooden statue of Saint John of Nepomuk on a corbel at the corner of the building.
There was a wooden statue on the the corner of this house that during renovation work after 1995 was removed (its fate is unknown). The crown had disappeared much earlier. In 2015, a new wooden statue of St John of Nepomuk was erected on the corner; it is not a copy of the original statue.
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:
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