In the gloom of St. George’s Basilica at Prague Castle lies a statue whose rawness chills every pilgrim. It is Brigita—the body of a young woman captured in an advanced state of decay, with sunken cheeks and a serpent emerging from her womb. While officially a Baroque allegory of Vanity (Vanitas), folk tradition links it to a touching and cruel story of love and jealousy. Brigita was a poor but beautiful girl from the Lesser Town, loved by an Italian stonemason working at the Castle. Their happiness seemed sealed until the young man was forced to leave for a commission in the countryside.

However, he was fueled by pathological suspicion and fear of infidelity. When he returned, a wicked neighbor, envious of Brigita’s beauty, whispered lies of the girl’s unfaithfulness into his ears. The hot-tempered sculptor, blinded by rage, believed every word. He invited the unsuspecting Brigita to an evening meeting in the wild Deer Moat, where in a fit of jealousy he ended her life and secretly buried her body under a layer of earth and leaves. The body was discovered only after her mother reported her disappearance, and suspicion immediately fell on the Italian lover.

When the murderer was brought to his victim, who had already lost her beauty due to time, he collapsed and confessed. Before his execution, he requested a final stay: he wanted to carve a statue according to the form in which he last saw his beloved, so that it might bear witness to his terrible deed forever. The legend concludes that the sculptor put all his pain and penance into the stone. The work was so perfect that the sovereign granted him a pardon; however, he found no peace for the rest of his life and perished by his stone beloved, who still serves in the basilica as a reminder of how easily hatred can destroy what is most precious.