Statue of Faith with Saints John and Paul, Religious sculptures near Prouskova Street in Český Dub, Czech Republic.
The Statue of Faith with Saints John and Paul is a Baroque sandstone group on a tall, richly articulated pedestal at the corner of Prouskova and Na Zhůrách streets in Dolní Předměstí. In the centre, a blindfolded female figure of Faith kneels under a crucifix on a rock struck by lightning, embracing the cross; a temple with the Eye of God in its tympanum appears on the other side. Flanking her stand Saints John and Paul in military dress with gilded swords, their names inscribed "S. IOANNES" and "S. PAULUS" on the plinths.
The sandstone group was made in 1714 on the order of Augustina von Puchheim, abbess of the Augustinian convent of St. Jakob auf der Hülben in Vienna, as thanks for the Christian victory over the Ottomans at the 1683 siege of Vienna. It is one of three matching groups placed on the Český Dub estate, then held by that Viennese convent, at Český Dub, Hodkovice nad Mohelkou and Osečná. The work is sometimes attributed to the workshop of the Baroque sculptor Matyáš Bernard Braun.
Locals call the group "U tří svatých" (At the Three Saints). Faith stands in the centre, blindfolded under a crucifix on a rock struck by lightning, with a temple and the Eye of God on the cross's other side; the pedestals beneath the flanking saints read "S. IOANNES" and "S. PAULUS". The Žitava branch of the Way of St. James, opened in 2008, passes along the left bank of the Ještědka by the sculpture.
The monument is located in a public area and can be viewed freely without any restrictions or special requirements. It sits in an accessible part of town where visitors can discover it while walking through the streets.
The central veiled figure was long misidentified as Saint Luitgarde, Saint Helena or Mary Magdalene; the gilded swords of Saints John and Paul and the names "S. IOANNES" and "S. PAULUS" under their feet help identify the group. The three companion sculptures at Hodkovice nad Mohelkou and Osečná share its design, and all stand where Ještěd is visible in the distance.
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