St. Anne of the Third Order

Exhibit of the Month 7 / 2019

St. Anne of the Third Order

Late 18th century, sandstone, height 87 cm

Regional Museum and Gallery in Most, inv. no. UP 0216

In July 2019, the Regional Museum and Gallery in Most presents to the public the statue of St. Anne of the Third Order as the exhibit of the month. This unassuming sandstone figure measuring 87 cm represents one of the stones in the mosaic of artworks that recount the story of old Most.

The statue arrived at the museum in 1969 when workers from the then District Museum in Most rescued it from a niche of the burgher house No. 263 on Kulová Street during the demolition of old Most. St. Anne, as the mother of the Virgin Mary, has been a widely venerated saint since the Middle Ages, with her feast celebrated on July 26. To this day, the proverb "St. Anne, cool in the morning" remains valid for the end of July.

The saint was particularly popular in mining communities as the patroness of miners. Mines and towns were named after her, such as the Saxon town of Annaberg. In Most, just like in Krupka, there was a cemetery church of St. Anne since the Middle Ages, which became Protestant in 1878.

The composition of Most's St. Anne follows the scheme defined by the sculpture group of St. Anne of the Third Order on the Charles Bridge in Prague (1707) by the Baroque sculptor Matěj Václav Jäckel. Although it is a significantly folk rendition of this composition, it retains some of its basic elements.

Despite its folk expression, the statue is an important document of the Baroque culture of Most and simultaneously indicates how much the burgher environment of Most honored the saint.

Prepared by Jitka Šrejberová.

Photo by Pavel Krásenský, 2019.