In the upper register, Saint Hedwig tends to the sick, spooning nourishing food into their gaping mouths. To the right, she distributes provisions to the poor . Below, she visits two prisoners locked in a stockade, who gratefully accept the candles she brings. To the right, she asks her husband to pardon their crimes and to release them. Although a member of the nobility, Hedwig performs these charitable tasks herself. Largely based on such characteristic acts of compassion and humility, the Catholic Church declared Hedwig a saint only twenty-three years after her death.
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