Sculpture of St. Cosmas and St. Damian

The author of the sculpture of St. Cosmas and St. Damian, with the Risen Christ the Savior at the center, was Prague sculptor Jan Oldřich Mayer (1709). The creation of the sculpture was funded by the Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague. The three-part pedestal with inscribed cartouches was replaced in 2011 with a copy by Jiří Kačer, carved from Božanov sandstone, now bearing the original Baroque statues. St. Cosmas and St. Damian were physicians who lived in what is now Syria. They were martyred for their faith during the reign of Emperor Diocletian. They are not only the patron saints of doctors and pharmacists, but also of barbers and confectioners, and they are also protectors against epidemics. In the inscriptions on the pedestal, Cosmas (left) is compared to the Greek physician Hippocrates, while Damian (right) is compared to Galen. Christ the Savior, or Salvator, is apparently understood here as the one who will heal the world of illness and suffering.