St. Christopher, Charles Bridge, Prague
The patron saint of travelers is carrying Christ on his shoulder. Sculptor: Emanuel Max (1857) Commissioned by Václav Wanek, the portreeve of Prague.
Sts. John of Matha, Felix de Valois and Ivan, Charles Bridge, Prague
The most expensive sculpture on Charles Bridge honors St. John of Matha and Felix de Valois, co-founders of the Trinitarians. Originally, the Trinitarians organized the ransoming of Turkish captives. St. Ivan, patron saint of the Slavs, seems to be there for no particularly good reason. Sculptor: Ferdinand Brokoff (1714) Commissioned
Continue readingSts. John of Matha, Felix de Valois and Ivan, Charles Bridge, Prague
St. Anne with Madonna and Child, Charles Bridge, Prague
St. Anne with Madonna and Child. Sculptor: Matej Václav Jäckel (1707) Commissioned by Count Rudolf of Lisov, hetman of the New Town of Prague.
St. John of Nepomuk, Charles Bridge, Prague
St. John’s main claim to fame lies in his death on Charles Bridge. According to legend, he was the confessor to the wife of King Wenceslas IV. In 1393, when he refused to reveal Queen Johanna’s secrets, the King bundled him up in a suit of armor and tossed him
St. Ludmila, Charles Bridge, Prague
Saint Ludmila was the grandmother and guardian of St. Wenceslas, aka Good King Wenceslas. Legend has it she was strangled in chapel with her own veil (note her left hand). Wenceslas’s mother, Drahomira, didn’t approve of Christian policies or mother-in-laws. That might account for Ludmila being the patron saint of
St. Francis Xavier, Charles Bridge, Prague
16th-century Spanish missionary famous for his work in the East. Here he is baptizing a group of Indian and Japanese princes (whether they will or no). Sculptor: Cenek Vosmík (1913) – Replica of Ferdinand Brokoff’s original 1711 sculpture, which fell into the river during the floods of 1890. Original commissioned
St. Nicholas of Tolentino, Charles Bridge, Prague
Patron of Holy Souls. Sculptor: Jan Bedrich Kohl (1708) – Replica. Commissioned by the Augustinian order convent of St. Thomas in Prague.