St. Francis

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 articles 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 his teacher's works, his works are characterised by a gentler folding of robes and a calmed expression. The sculpture depicts St. Francis of Assisi – a founder of the Franciscan order. In iconography he is depicted with a tonsure on his head, in a brown Franciscan habit wearing a girdle with three knots. In many images, also of the sculpture in question, he appeared with a crucifix in his hand. His attributes also include the skull - a symbol of penance and mortification, and stigmas.