Sveti Janez Nepomuk
Sveti Janez Nepomuk (Pomuk pri Plznu, ok. 1350 – Praga, 20. 3. 1393) češki duhovnik, mučenec in svetnik, ki so se mu priporočali v najrazličnejših potrebah in stiskah ladjarji, splavarji, mlinarji in drugi, spada med najbolj priljubljene svetnike srednjeevropskega krščanskega prostora. Postal je eden najbolj znanih zavetnikov mostov in proti vodnim nevarnostim, kar je bilo povezano z njegovo mučeniško smrtjo, ko je zaradi jeze kralja Venčeslava IV. končal v valovih Vltave. (O legendi več na spletni strani PMB.)
Številne upodobitve kažejo Janeza Nepomuka kot kanonika s štolo in biretom, z znamenji mučeništva, s palmo ali križem v roki in prstom na ustih kot simbolom spovedne molčečnosti. Včasih je obkrožen s šestimi zvezdami okoli glave, ker je po legendi šest zvezd pokazalo, kje v Vltavi leži njegovo truplo. Ta svetnik je bil poleg ladjarjev, čolnarjev, splavarjev, mlinarjev in drugih predvsem zavetnik duhovnikov, spovednikov, od leta 1730 jezuitov, frančiškanov, Češke in Habsburžanov. Upodobitve svetega Janeza Nepomuka so se razširile v 18. stoletju po vzoru najbolj znane kiparske upodobitve na Karlovem mostu v Pragi iz leta 1672 in posebno po razglasitvi za svetnika leta 1729.
Največkrat so kip svetega Janeza Nepomuka postavljali ob vodi. Najverjetneje je brežiško znamenje s tem svetnikom pred preselitvijo v mestni park stalo ob nekdanjem mostu čez reko Savo. Vsekakor pa znamenje s svetim Janezom Nepomukom spominja na nekdanje pristanišče in brodarstvo na reki Savi v južnem delu mesta, kjer še danes stoji opuščeno nadstropno poslopje podkvastega tlorisa s tremi trakti, ki je služilo kot skladišče bližnjega rečnega pristanišča. Že konec 17. stoletja je namreč ob privozu južno od gradu nastalo predmestje z rečnim pristanom, brodom in mlini. Po letu 1699, ko se je končala t. i. turška vojna in se je meja umaknila daleč na vzhod, je mesto vedno bolj pridobivalo na trgovskem pomenu zaradi naraščajočega rečnega prometa.
St. John of Nepomuk (Pomuk near Plzeň, circa 1350 – Prague, 20 Mar 1393), a Czech priest, martyr and saint who
protected shipowners, raftsmen, millers and others against various hardships, is one of the most popular Christian saints of the Central European area. He was also one of the best known patron saints of bridges and protected people against floods and troubled waters, which was connected with the manner of his death – due to King Wenceslaus IV’s anger, he ended up in the Vltava river and drowned. (For more about the legend, see the Posavje Museum Brežice's website.)
St. John of Nepomuk is often depicted as a canon with a stole and a biretta, the symbols of martyrdom – a palm branch or a cross – in his hand and holding a finger to his lips as if protecting a secret – a symbol of the seal of confession. He is sometimes portrayed with a halo of six stars as legend has it that six stars showed where his body lay in the Vltava. In addition to being the patron saint of shipowners, boatmen, raftsmen and millers, he was also the patron saint of priests, confessors, the Jesuits (from 1730 onwards), the Franciscans, Bohemia and the Habsburgs. His depictions became increasingly more common and widespread in the 18th century, following the example of the most famous sculptural depiction on Charles Bridge in Prague from 1672, and especially after his canonization in 1729.
Statues of St. John of Nepomuk were mostly placed by the water. Before its relocation to the city park, the St. John of Nepomuk's column from Brežice most likely stood next to the former bridge spanning the River Sava. The column is reminiscent of the former port and the cable ferrying on the Sava in the southern part of the town, at the site of an abandoned multi-storeyed three-wing building with a horseshoe-shaped ground plan, which used to be a warehouse for a nearby river port. As early as the late 17th century, a suburb with a wharf, a ferryboat and mills was formed by the port driveway south of the castle. After 1699, when the Great Turkish War came to an end and the border was moved far to the east, the growing river traffic was the reason for the town’s increasing commercial importance.
Besedilo / Text : Oži Lorber, muzejska svetovalka, Posavski muzej Brežice / Oži Lorber, Museum Consultant, Posavje Museum Brežice
NAZAJ
