The St. Mary and St. John of Nepomuk Monument, often shortened as Statue of St. John of Nepomuk, is a Romanian

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

monument in Timișoara's Liberty Square. It is one of the two

plague column Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

s built in Timișoara after the

Great Plague of 1738 The Great Plague of 1738 was an outbreak of the bubonic plague between 1738 and 1740 that affected areas of the Habsburg Empire, now in the modern nations of Romania, Hungary, Ukraine, Serbia, Croatia, Slovakia, Czechia and Austria. Although no exac ...

; the other is located in the neighboring Union Square. It is inscribed in the list of historical monuments with the code TM-III-m-A-06306.

History

The plague epidemic of 1738–1739 cost the lives of about 1,000 of the 6,000 inhabitants of Timișoara. As early as 1739, the city administration, represented by mayor , took a solemn oath to perform various good deeds, as a sign of gratitude for ending the epidemic. The "Nepomuk brothers", a religious association in the city, also wanted to commission a work of art to commemorate the epidemic. It seems that the "Nepomuk brothers" issued the execution order of the monument. The chosen artist was

Georg Raphael Donner Georg Rafael Donner (24 May 1693 – 15 February 1741) was one of the most prolific Austrian sculptors of the 18th century. His style was baroque with some pseudo-ancient additions. He educated many German sculptors of his era, including his ...

, but he could not execute the work himself. The sculptors were F. Blim and E. Wasserburger, who took three years to complete the monument (1753–1756). The current statue has replaced the older, more modest statue of St. Nepomuk, the patron saint of Catholics in Banat. As this first statue was carved in low-strength sandstone, it was replaced with the current monument. And old Nepomuk was moved over time to various parts of the city, eventually reaching the courtyard of the Catholic parish church in the Fabric district. In 1852 it was moved near one of the gates of the Transylvania barracks, leaving room for another monument, the Victory Monument. In 1964 the barracks was demolished to make way for the construction of the Continental Hotel, and in 1974 the monument returned in front of the former town hall, where it had been originally located and where it is now. Because it was severely damaged during the December 1989 Revolution, the bullet-cut sculpture ensemble was restored in 1992–1993. The last restoration of the monument was done in May–September 2015 by Ion Oprescu, a local decorator and restorer.

Description

The structural composition is made of Leitha limestone, from the Vienna area, and sandstone was also used in the composition of the central core. The ensemble has as main characters John of Nepomuk, the patron saint of Catholicism in Banat and Mary who holds lily flowers in her hand, a symbol of purity. Sts.

Roch Roch (lived c. 1348 – 15/16 August 1376/79 (traditionally c. 1295 – 16 August 1327, also called Rock in English, is a Catholic saint, a confessor whose death is commemorated on 16 August and 9 September in Italy; he is especially invoked a ...

, Charles Borromeo and

Sebastian Sebastian may refer to: People * Sebastian (name), including a list of persons with the name Arts, entertainment, and media Films and television * ''Sebastian'' (1968 film), British spy film * ''Sebastian'' (1995 film), Swedish drama film ...

appear in the background. The legend of St. John of Nepomuk is engraved on three sides of the base of the monument: the confession of the Queen of Bohemia, the inquisitor of King Charles who wants to break the sacrament of confession, and the punishment of the Prague canon thrown from the bridge into the Vltava in Prague. Following the torment he endured, through sanctification, he became St. John of Nepomuk, protector of Bohemia, shipowners, raftsmen, priests, millers, and secret keepers.

References

{{PlacesTimișoara Buildings and structures in Timișoara Buildings and structures completed in 1756 Baroque architecture in Romania Historic monuments in Timiș County Plague monuments and memorials