Holy Saviour Statue, Charles Bridge, Prague Poster

"Statue of the Holy Saviour with Cosmas and Damian, Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic" by Catherine Sherman. The Statue of the Holy Saviour with the saints Cosmas and Damian stands on the North Side of the Charles Bridge in Prague, Czech Republic. These three ornate stone statues stand prominently on a pedestal in front of charming, historic buildings with red-tiled roofs. The bright blue sky enhances the architectural details of both the statues and the surrounding structures. Designed by Jan Oldřich Mayer in 1709, at the expense of the faculty of medicine, University of Prague, this statue grouping portrays Jesus with the patron saints of medicine placed on either side. Cosmas and Damian were two Arab physicians and early Christian martyrs. They practiced their profession in the seaport of Aegeae, then in the Roman province of Cilicia.[ Cosmas and Damian were third century Arabian-born twin brothers who embraced Christianity and practiced medicine and surgery without a fee. This led them to being named anargyroi (from the Greek Ἀνάργυροι, 'the silverless' or 'unmercenaries'); by this, they attracted many to the Christian faith. They reputedly cured blindness, fever, paralysis and reportedly expelled a serpent. They were arrested by Lysias, governor of Cilicia (modern-day Çukurova, Turkey) during the Diocletian persecution because of their faith and fame as healers. Emperor Diocletian, who favoured the worship of the Olympian gods, issued a series of edicts that condemned the Christians with the goal of eliminating Christianity from the Roman Empire.