Jun 27 2008
Statue of St. Francis Borgia
Statue of St. Francis Borgia was designed by Ferdinand Brokoff in 1710 and commissioned to the Emperor Burgrave František z Colletů. The sculpture portrays Jesuit priest St. Borgia with two angels holding a painting of the Madonna. If you look on the lower part of the sculpture’s pedestal, you can see there 3 symbols of the saint’s life: a helmet, a ducal crown, and a cardinal’s hat. Francis Borgia was a Spanish Jesuit and third Superior General of the Society of Jesus, and also founded the Collegium Romanum, which was to become the Gregorian University, advised kings and popes, dispatched missionaries to distant corners of the globe, and closely supervised all the affairs of the rapidly expanding order. However despite such a great power he had, Francis led a humble life, and was widely regarded in his own lifetime as a saint. In 1671 Francis Borgia was canonized.
