The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Abstract

The sculpture of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus was created in the 1930s, probably together with a set of alabaster altars made in 1937-1939 at the "Żórawno" Alabaster Factory in Żórawno. In the factory in Żórawno, an established design of altars, a pulpit, a baptismal font and a balustrade separating the chancel from the nave of the church was ordered, which was accepted without major changes by the order of Canons Regular, who exercised their ministry in Kamień. From the beginning, the statue was intended for the altar of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus in which it is currently located.
The cult of the Heart of Jesus developed under the influence of the revelations of Margaret Mary Alacoque from the Visitation Order. The order of worship was approved by Pope Clement XIII in 1765. The iconography of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus evolved in the fourth quarter of the 18th century, and developed in devotional art in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its shape was influenced by the dissemination of printed paintings on this subject by the Italian painter Pompeo Batoni. In the 19th- and 20th-century sculpture, two variants of the representation were particularly popular: the image of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus according to Batoni and Venite ad me (Mt 11, 28), in which Jesus is depicted in a standing position, with arms spread wide apart. The sculpture in the church in Kamień refers to the latter of the mentioned variants.