Allegorical Sculpture „Wisdom”

The female figure with slender proportions stands on her left leg with the right leg extended to the side, supported on her toes. The woman is dressed in a tight gown with narrow sleeves and a small oval neckline. A wide, pleated cloak drapes over her left shoulder, fastened with a strap and gathered at her right hip.

The woman’s head is slightly turned to the right, her hair styled up with a center part and two strands falling onto her neck. “Wisdom” holds a mirror (only the chalice–shaped base) in her lowered right hand and a writhing snake in her left hand. Her feet are bare in sandals. The figure stands on a circular base. The sculpture was originally the sixth from the right of the entrance, placed by the pilaster of the baptismal font enclosure.

The baptismal font was funded by the Council of St. Mary’s Church and made in the Netherlands between 1554–56. It was transported by ship to Gdańsk in 1557. In 1943–44, it was evacuated to the village of Żuławki near Gdańsk. In the post–war years, the sculptures were secured and stored in the National Museum in Warsaw. They returned to St. Mary’s Basilica in 1981.