![Nicholas, statue in the chapel of St Niklausen near Kerns (Canton of Obwalden), around 1350/1375 (detail).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/nikolaus-kerns-titel-300x225.jpg)
George, Martin, Nicholas – timeless humanity
The legends of the saints are written without footnotes. They can’t be checked and verified. The significance of these legends lies in the moral ideal that lives on in elaborate portrayals as a gentle entreaty to follow their saintly example.
The Fourteen Holy Helpers
![Chapel of St Ulrich and St Afra, Ruswil (Canton of Lucerne), grouping of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, 1593. Top centre: Nicholas with three balls of gold; right: St Barbara with a chalice; lower left: St Christopher with staff and child.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/14-nothelfer-links-geschnitten_img_7158-236x300.jpg)
![Late Gothic at its finest – solemn, gracious, dignified. Top centre: Erasmus with a windlass; next to him: Denis, plagued by a headache; lower left: George with spear, shield and dragon.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/14-nothelfer-rechts-geschnitten-236x300.jpg)
![The Säuli-Toni in the Chapel of St Ulrich and St Afra, Ruswil (Canton of Lucerne), right side altar; as attribute the piglet, finding refuge under his cloak; in his right hand he holds a T-shaped cross and bell.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/saeuli-toni-kapelle-st-ulrich-225x300.jpg)
![Chapel of St Ulrich and St Afra, late 16th century; unostentatious, late Gothic construction with ridge turret and simple decoration, nicely in proportion in the beautiful Lucerne landscape.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/kapelle-st-ulrich-aussen-225x300.jpg)
‘John, you must go in the stove!’ – Reformation, banishment of the saints
Felix and Regula – interim special status for Zurich’s patron saints
![Remnant of the original version by Hans Leu the Elder (1460-1507), produced after 1497 – without the parts that were sawn off in 1524 and are no longer extant](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/hldae-stadtansicht-zuerich-ohne-heilige-300x169.jpg)
![Multi-panel altarpiece featuring Felix and Regula in front of a Zurich city view, detail with Lindenhof and Schipfe areas](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/hldae-stadtansicht-zuerich-mit-heiligen-300x169.jpg)
The Last Judgement – perplexing arbitrariness
Exceptions to the rule
![Basel Cathedral, George as the dragon-slayer; copy dating from 1960, original late 14th century, now in the Museum Kleines Klingental; the dragon is also a copy, made before 1906.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/georg_basler_muenster-300x209.jpg)
![Basel Cathedral, Martin cutting his cloak; copy dating from 1883, original late 14th century, now in the Museum Kleines Klingental. Both statues were originally painted.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/martin_basler_muenster-300x221.jpg)
George – chivalric bravery in the fight against evil
![St George slaying the dragon, second half of the 15th century, Museum St. Urbanhof, Sursee (Canton of Lucerne).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/georg_sursee-222x300.jpg)
Martin – compassion that touches both parties
![St Martin on horseback, single figure, limewood, 66 x 47.5 x 18 cm, fragment; produced around 1420 in Lucerne (?), probably for St Martin’s Church in Entlebuch (Canton of Lucerne).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/martin-entlebuch_dig-3705_lm-11670-274x300.jpg)
![Hans Friedrich Rohner (1898-1972), mural of the legend of St Martin above the south portal of St Martin’s Reformed Church in Basel, 1922. To this day Martin has retained his status as a symbol of compassion, across denominational boundaries.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/martin-wandbild_ueber_dem_suedportal_der_martinskirche_in_basel-300x254.jpg)
Nicholas – not everything depends on gold
![St Nicholas tosses a gold ball into the bed chamber of three virgins. Oberbobritzsch in Saxony, Germany, left altar wing of the village church of St Nicholas, Bobritzsch master, 1521.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/nikolaus-wirft-goldklumpen-ins-zimmer-von-drei-jungen-frauen-112x300.jpg)
![Nicholas, statue in the chapel of St Niklausen near Kerns (Canton of Obwalden), around 1350/1375](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/nikolaus-statue-in-der-kapelle-st-niklausen-bei-kerns-ow-166x300.jpg)
![Chapel of St Niklausen near Kerns (Canton of Obwalden) at the entrance to the Melchtal, around 1350/1375; the detached tower is reminiscent of the architectural tradition of Lombardy.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/kapelle-st-niklausen-bei-kerns-ow-300x258.jpg)