St Nicasius of Reims

He is said to have been killed by Vandals on the church steps in 407 CE. According to legend, he sacrificed himself to save the city’s population from attack. The top of his head was hacked off while he was reciting a psalm.

St Nicasius was venerated particularly in France. His martyrdom is depicted on the north door of Reims Cathedral.

The statue

One of the five original statues from the West Front to have been preserved from the Middle Ages, it is now on display in the Archbishop’s Palace Museum. Doubts have been raised about whether the statue is actually of St Nicasius. Several experts believe it may be identified as St Thomas Becket of Canterbury in England.

If it is St Nicasius, it would be the only known depiction of him in Norway. It would also support the theory that the stonemasons commissioned to carve the huge statues for the West Front in the second half of the 13th century came from France.

St Nicasius is depicted with the top half of his skull and archbishop’s mitre in his hands. The head and hands were irreparably damaged and have been remodelled.