St. Gregory the Great or St. Clement of Rome

Abstract

The sculpture depicting the holy pope is an early baroque work of unknown origin and authorship. The statue was probably created in the first half of the 17th century. Lack of source information does not allow to determine whether it was associated with any of the altars in the church in Paczółtowice. The work depicts a saint who was a pope, as evidenced by the papal tiara, i.e. a three-crown papal tiara on the head of the figure. Perhaps the statue represents Pope Gregory I, who was a bishop in the years 590-604. The sculpture can also represent Pope Clement I (ca. 91-101), called Clement of Rome, who was the patron of stonemasons. Given the proximity of the quarry in Dębnik, located about three kilometres from the church of Paczółtowice, it seems likely that the temple might have had a sculpture of this saint. At the turn of 1995 and 1996, the statue in question was maintained in the workshop of professor Ireneusz Płuska in Nawojowa Góra.