St. John of Nepomuk - Hermanuv Mestec, Czech Republic - Statues of Religious Figures on Waymarking.com

The nice Baroque statuary of St John Nepomuk in Hermanuv Mestec was installed in western part of Masaryk' square, just in front of the local castle comes from 1729, i.e from the year when John of Nepomuk was canonized. He is depicted here in typical pose, i.e. wearing a priest robe, without hat and "cradling" the cross with Crucified Jesus. Two little angels at his feet hold his atributes, i.e. a priest cap and the Holy Bible. The one of them has his finger across mouth what represents teh fact that St John Nepomuk denied during torturing to break the Seal of the Confession. The Latin prayers engraved at the richly decorated pedestal of the statuary hide in chronograms the date of the statuary creation, i.e. 1729.

John of Nepomuk

He was born c1354 in the small town of Nepomuk in Bohemia (the Czech Republic) to a wealthy Christian family. He was sent to study Theology and Canon Law at the Universities of Prague and Padua. He was well connected with the wealthy nobility and in In 1393 he was made the vicar-general which brought him into close contact with royalty. The ruling monarch was the Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (aka Wenceslas) who was also the King of Bohemia (February 26, 1361 – August 16, 1419). Saint John Nepomuk became the confessor of the the fourth wife of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The name of the Empress was Elizabeth of Pomerania (1347–1393). Rather than reveal the confession of the Empress, at the command of the Emperor Charles IV, he allowed himself to be cast into the river Moldau from the bridge at Prague and died by drowning on March 20, 1393.

The figure of Saint John of Nepomuk 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.
John of Nepomuk is seen by Catholics as a martyr to the cause of defending the Seal of the Confessional, by romantic nationalists as a Czech martyr to imperial interference, and by most historians as a victim of a late version of the inveterate investiture controversy between secular rulers and the Catholic hierarchy.

Cited from (visit link)

Associated Religion(s): Roman Catholic Statue Location: western part of Masaryk´ square in Heřmanuv Městec Entrance Fee: free Artist: unknown Website: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the statue. A waymarker and/or GPSr is not required to be in the image but it doesn't hurt.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   03/02/2019 ToRo61 visited it