St. Florian - Krakow, Poland - Relief Art Sculptures on Waymarking.com

This relief depicts St. Florian in a very curious pose.He seems to be dressed in ancient military garb with a helmet. His face looks upward while his body lurches forward at the hips with one knee resting on a cloud-looking object. He holds his left hand to his chest with a red flag on a pole which is nestled in his left arm. His right hand is stretched out forward and spilling some liquid out of a ladle.

Wikipedia (visit link) informs us about the saint:

"Saint Florian (Latin: Florianus; died c. 304 AD) was a Christian holy man, and the patron saint of Linz, Austria; chimney sweeps; soapmakers, and firefighters. His feast day is May 4. St. Florian is also the patron of Upper Austria, jointly with Saint Leopold.

Florian was born about 250 AD in the ancient Roman city of Aelium Cetiumin in present-day Sankt Pölten, Austria. He joined the Roman army and advanced in the ranks, rising to commander of the imperial army in the Roman province of Noricum. In addition to his military duties, he was also responsible for organizing firefighting brigades. Florian organized and trained an elite group of soldiers whose sole duty was to fight fires.

During the Diocletianic Persecution of Christians, reports reached Rome that Florian was not enforcing the proscriptions against Christians in his territory. Aquilinus was sent to investigate these reports. When Aquilinus ordered Florian to offer sacrifice to the Roman gods in accordance with Roman religion, he refused. Florian was sentenced to be burned at the stake. Standing on the funeral pyre, Florian is reputed to have challenged the Roman soldiers to light the fire, saying "If you do, I will climb to heaven on the flames." Apprehensive of his words, instead of burning Florian, he was executed by drowning in the Enns River with a millstone tied around his neck.

His body was later retrieved by Christians and buried at an Augustinian monastery near Lorch. Later a woman named Valeria had a vision in which she saw him; Florian, in this vision, declared his intent to be buried in a more appropriate location."


And the Wikipedia article about the Gate (visit link) has an additional photo and mentions the relief.

Your impression of the sculpture?: Website for sculpture?: [Web Link] Where is this sculpture?: St. Florian's Gate Krakow, Poland Date Sculpture was opened for vewing?: Not listed Sculptors Name: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/12/2023 castorka visited it 03/21/2019 Rikitan visited it 09/28/2018 Ajosa visited it 06/28/2018 The A-Team visited it 05/06/2016 franketmuriel visited it 09/19/2015 Metro2 visited it

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