St. Clement

Abstract

This statue of St. Clement by an unknown artist is located in the Chapel of St. John the Baptist in the Cathedral of Lecce. The patron of the chapel was the Abbot Onofrio Manesi, a wealthy member of the local nobility and a canon of the cathedral. He likely included this statue of St. Clement (Pope Clement I, an early church father from the first century CE) to honor Pope Clement X, who had a few years before named Manesi bishop of Bisignano (in Calabria). St. Clement is shown in a sumptuous red and purple cloak pinned with a jewel. At his feet, the bishop's hat references his succession as the Bishop of Rome. The positioning of his right hand suggest that he may originally have held a rosary. Photograph(s) licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.