Saint John of Nepomuk

The attribute of the Czech saint wearing a canon’s dress is the crucifix held up. On the right, there is a skull on the table; on the left bellows is a plump-cheeked putto holding his finger in front of his lips reminding us to the seal of confession with this gesture. In the course of restauration pentimenti were discovered proving that the painter had altered significantly the composition; on the first variation the saint holds the crucifix in his crossed arms. This painting was one of the five pieces given to then Brothers of Mercy by the printer Ferenc Royer in 1770 and was paced above the door of the sacristy. An analogy of lower quality of the maturely formed face and hands was the signed predella with a half-length St. Joseph of the side altar of the Virgin painted by Kracker, in Fels�mecenz�f (Visny Medzev) in 1778.