St. Barbara

Abstract

The sculpture was made in the early 1940s by Antoni Baran, an apprentice and collaborator of the Cracovian sculptor Wojciech Maciejowski. Antoni Baran is the only apprentice of Maciejowski known by name. He collaborated with his teacher, including at the restaurant of baroque furnishings of the Corpus Christi Church in Cracow, which began around 1939. In the early 1940s, the artists made many pieces of furnishings for the Church of Our Lady of Protection in Kamień. Antoni Baran worked mainly in wood and specialised in furnishing sacred interiors. Unlike Maciejowski, his works are characterised by a gentler folding of robes and a calmed expression. Saint Barbara is one of the martyrs living in the 4th century. In art, she is most often depicted as a young woman with a sword and a chalice with the host. Her attributes also include the tower in which she was imprisoned. Sometimes it has three windows - in reference to the Holy Trinity. Barbara protected against plague and accompanied the dying, being the patron of good death.