3-068-733 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Embroidered picture, 19th century. Additional Info: The picture depicts Saint Wenceslas in richly decorated armour, crown and royal mantle, with a long dagger in his hand. Wenceslas I the Saint (ca. 907-929) was the son of the Bohemia Duke Vratislaus I and Drahomíra. After Vratislaus's death in 921, Drahomíra assumed leadership of the government and tried to restore the pagan religion in the Bohemia. Eventually, Wenceslas took over the rule in 925 and put much effort into establishing the Church's position in the Bohemia. He was also famous for personal piety, and legend says that he cultivated the grain and vines for the bread and wine made for the Lord's table. He died a martyr's death stabbed by assassins hired by his mother Drahomíra and his younger brother Boleslaus. The saint is most often depicted in armour, crown and royal mantle, with a dagger-the instrument of his martyrdom-in the palm of his hand. In the fifteenth century, Bishop Zbigniew Olesnicki announced Saint Wenceslas one of the four main patrons of the Kingdom of Poland. Together with Saint Stanislaus, he is the patron of the Wawel Cathedral. Joanna Regina Kowalska