Year of construction:
1494 / around 1507 / 1890
Design:
Simon Lainberger
Implementation:
Original: Peter Vischer the Elder
Recast: Christoph Lenz
Location:
Depiction:
The figure of Saint Maurice is depicted with his head held high in a stern frontal view.
His left arm holds a shield bearing the lion coat of arms of the Imhoff patrician family, whilst his right hand grasps an upright lance.
Geschichte:
The original, cast by Peter Vischer the Elder, is now housed in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. It is a replica, produced around 1507, of the figure of Saint Maurice from the tomb of Archbishop Ernst of Saxony in Magdeburg Cathedral, which dates from 1494.
The replica of Saint Mauritius was a gift from the founder Peter Vischer the Elder to his friend Peter Imhoff, who installed it as a fountain ornament on his estate.
According to legend, as leader of the Christian-African contingent of the Theban Legion, he was beheaded on the orders of Emperor Maximian between 287 and 300 AD in Agaunum on the Rhône – now known as Agaune – because he and his soldiers had refused to make sacrifices to the pagan gods.
Reference:
Elke Masa, Freiplastiken in Nürnberg, S. 46, Verlag Ph.C.W. Schmidt, Neustadt/Aisch