Painted wood. A statue representing saint Nicholas in episcopal habit, surrounded by three children.
France.
17th century.
Two episodes of Saint Nicholas' life are particularly famous: the endowment of the three virgins and the resurrection of the three children thrown in a salting pot. This statue is a reference to the second story. Three chlidren request hospitality at a butcher's house during a great famine. He kills them and cuts them into pieces. Saint Nicholas comes to their rescue and resurrects them, by making the sign of the cross.