wood; height 60, diameter 12 cm
A perfectly preserved sculpture with rich painterly texture, rendered in the colors and symbolism of episcopal vestments and emblems, featuring a single, equal-armed Greek cross carved on the front of the miter. The sculpture is covered with a polychrome—painted—red bishop’s cape and adorned with polychrome likely depicting an omophorion with blue crosses. At the bottom, streaks of white polychrome resemble the lace trim of a chasuble against the blue background of the robe.
The sculpture is from a private collection—it has been in the family’s possession since the late 1960s.
Karol Wójciak, known as Heródek (1892–1969)
He was born and died in Lipnica Wielka in Orava. He was a shepherd, lived alone, and resided in a stable. Jerzy Darowski and Irena Wrońska met Heródek during an ethnographic field expedition (1959). A few years later, Jan Bujak wrote about Heródek in *Przekrój*. From then on, this unassuming resident of Lipnica began to attract ethnographers, collectors, and art critics. It is believed that Karol Wójciak created several hundred sculptures. To date, 154 of them have been found in museum and private collections. (Ethnographic Museum in Kraków)
