Carved Wooden Religious Statue Of Saint Como, Patron Saint Of Surgeons And Martyrs

Saint Côme carved wood polychrome 19th patron saint of surgeons 34 cm

Ancient religious sculpture in carved wood, formerly polychrome, depicting Saint Côme, a standing bearded figure holding his attributes. This popular devotional piece refers directly to one of the great patron saints of the medical world, traditionally associated with surgeons, but also with physicians, apothecaries, pharmacists, barbers-surgeons and, more broadly, the whole world of care, therapeutics and ancient medicine. Despite its rustic character and accidents, the sculpture retains a very strong presence, simple, frontal and immediately legible.

The interest of this work lies as much in its iconography as in its popular execution. We are not dealing here with a learned sculpture, but with an ancient provincial work, with a direct and expressive vocabulary, where the stylization of the face, the frontality of the body, the synthetic drapery and the sobriety of the volumes give the whole a real density of popular piety. The underside of the base and the overall construction point to a 19th-century date. The piece takes on its full meaning through the subject represented: St. Como, patron saint of surgeons and tutelary figure of all that gravitates around ancient surgery, medicine, pharmacy, apothecary and care professions.

Old condition with numerous visible accidents. Worn wood, polychromy largely gone, erosions, misses, truncated top, uneven base, visible through breaks at middle level and base, old resumptions or consolidations, general wear consistent with age. The whole remains stable, legible and highly decorative. See photos.

Height: 34 cm