Wrocław – National Museum in Wrocław (St. Martin from St. Martin’s Church)

This wooden polychrome sculpture is in the collections of the National Museum in Wrocław and depicts St. Martin of Tours (336AD – 397AD) who was known for cutting his cloak in two to give warmth to a beggar. Very benevolent, although I wonder why he didn’t give him the whole thing, but there we go. As with all these things, some of the cloak that Martin kept survived and became relics likely dotted around numerous locations. The most important one was originally at Marmoutier Abbey and there were priests put in charge of looking after the holy cloak relic and the head priest of this operation became known as the cappellanu. Eventually, all priests who went to serve the military became known as cappellani, which in English became the word chaplain and that was all named after this relic.

Anyway, I digress. This sculpture was likely made in a workshop in Wrocław and it has been dated to around 1490. It was located at St. Martin’s Church, the only survived building from the former Piast’s castle in Wrocław. Before the Second World War, this was where the Polish people in the German city would have gone for services, but the building was damaged during the conflict. The sculpture is in relatively very good condition and a fair chunk of the paint has remained. And the moral of the story is that if you give half of your coat to a beggar, then you too could maybe have your own church named after you in the future and perhaps a word named after you as well.