St Stanislaus
St Stanislaus

St Stanislaus

Author: N / A


Material / technique: wood carving, polychrome.  

Dimensions: high - 36 cm.

St Stanislaus is portrayed with a Bishop’s Mitre and a pastoral cane. Stanislaus was a Bishop of Kraków famous for his fairness, ascetic manner of living and generosity. He excommunicated King Bołeslaw II because of the wicked behaviour and cruelty of the latter and therefore was tortured, slain by the King himself and his body cut to pieces was scattered in the field. His members were guarded from animals and birds by an eagle and then gathered together and buried by a canon. After the Baptism of Lithuania in 1387, a relic of the arm of St Stanislaus was given as a present to Lithuania and now is kept in Vilnius Cathedral Basilica called after St Stanislaus. St Stanislaus is considered a patron saint of Lithuania, but is rarely portrayed in traditional sculpture.

Reference: "The traditional folk sculptures collection of Gediminas Petraitis".  Ed. Marytė Slušinskaitė. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2012, P. 222.

Published: "The traditional folk sculptures collection of Gediminas Petraitis".  Ed. Marytė Slušinskaitė. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2012, P. 224.