Figura Matki Boskiej z Dzieciątkiem i Świętego Jana Nepomucena, Wrocław

Before Leśnica Castle, this sandstone monument brings together the Virgin Mary with the Child and Saint John of Nepomuk. It was made in seventeen forty-three, and it is among the few surviving historic landmarks of Leśnica, now a district of Wrocław. The monument is arranged like a small vertical story.

On the three-sided base, relief panels recount the saint’s ordeal: one shows him being thrown into the Vltava; another depicts Queen Sophia’s confession; and a third shows King Wenceslaus the Fourth questioning him. These reliefs reproduce ones on Ostrów Tumski and are attributed to the Czech sculptor Jan Urbański. Above them, Nepomuk holds a crucifix in his left hand, accompanied by putti carrying emblems of his martyrdom.

Notice the small figure drawing along a halo of stars. At the summit, Mary drives a cross-tipped lance into the snake beneath her feet, with two little angels beside her. Combining Mary and Nepomuk in one monument is unusual, even though its religious message belongs to the late Counter-Reformation. It makes this sculpture feel like a compact public lesson in faith, courage, and victory over evil.