A carved and polychrome painted wood figure of Saint John of Nepomuk, probably Germany, 17th/18th C.

H 65,5 cm

Provenance: The collection of Guillaume Michiels, Bruges-based painter and folklorist.

John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (Czech: Jan Nepomucký; German: Johannes Nepomuk; Latin: Ioannes Nepomucenus) (c. 1345 – 20 March 1393) is the saint of Bohemia (Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts state that he was the confessor of the queen of Bohemia and refused to divulge the secrets of the confessional. On the basis of this account, John of Nepomuk is considered the first martyr of the Seal of the Confessional, a patron against calumnies and, because of the manner of his death, a protector from floods and drownings. He is said to rest in the Thomb in St-Vitus Cathedral, Prague.

A statue of Saint John of Nepomuk has often been erected on bridges in many countries, such as on the Ponte Milvio in Rome. The one in Prague was extremely popular as late as the 19th C., when people traveled from Tyrol, Hungary, and particularly Bohemia to Prague to celebrate his feast day, May 16.