Jun 27 2008
St. Francis Xavier statue
The statue of St. Francis Xavier in Charles Bridge is situated on the left side, if you look at the bridge from the Old Town Bridge Tower. It was originally created by Ferdinand Brokoff in 1711 by the commission of the faculty of theology and philosophy of Charles University, but then it was swept away by floodwater in 1890, and only fragments remain. However in 1913 Čeňek Vosmík created copy. The statue depicts 18th-century cofounder of the Jesuit order, Spanish missionary celebrated for his work in Orient carrying four pagan princes on his shoulders symbolizing the cultures targeted for proselytizing - an Indian, a Tartar, a Chinese, and a Moor. The statue of St. Francis Xavier is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding Czech baroque sculptural works.
