The prophet Elijah

Elijah was a prophet who lived in northern Israel during the reigns of King Ahab and King Ahaziah. Elijah is often compared to Moses and is seen as a forerunner to the Messiah in the New Testament.

One of the famous accounts of Elijah concerns a woman who lived in a pagan area and who showed hospitality towards the prophet. This was interpreted as a metaphor for the fact that pagans could also receive the teachings of Christ. The wood she used to cook the prophet’s food was interpreted as the beams from which Christ’s cross was made. And when Elijah brought her dead son back to life, it was a symbol of Jesus’s resurrection.

According to tradition, Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, a forewarning of Christ’s own ascension. This scene is depicted on the statue’s plinth.