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Elisabeth de Kleer

84 discoveries

The Bound Christ of Radvanec

Ecce Homo relief, part of the "Cross Way" (Křížová cesta) in Radvanec. Carved directly into the local soft Coniacian sandstone, typical of the Lusatian Mountains. Central figure: Jesus Christ bound to a pillar during his scourging, a motif popularized by 17th-century Counter-Reformation piety. Above the niche: a painting of St. Hubert, patron saint of hunters, recognizable by the stag with a crucifix between its antlers. This specific intersection of folk art and religious devotion is characteristic of the Sudeten German heritage in Northern Bohemia. The site reflects 18th and 19th-century "rock architecture," where villagers carved chapels and stations of the cross into natural outcrops as accessible pilgrimage sites for those unable to travel to Jerusalem. Such carvings were often colored; remnants of pigment sometimes survive deep in the rock pores.