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Secondary sourceArtifact

St Benedict Removing a Bladder-Stone from Emperor Henry II

Timan Riemenschneider

A photograph of a carved relief showing the legend of Benedict healing Emperor Henry II, reflecting his later cult as a healer.

This legend of Benedict healing an emperor shows the growth of his posthumous cult as a miraculous healer.

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Black and white photograph of a carved stone relief in an arched niche. A bearded man with a monk's tonsure and robe stands at left holding a stone. A crowned, bearded king reclines in the centre, bare-chested with a cloak. At right, a younger man sleeps, head resting on his hand, beside a drape.
Carved relief, St Benedict removing a bladder-stone from Emperor Henry II, attributed to Timan Riemenschneider. Wellcome Images.

About this source

What it is

This is a black-and-white photograph of a carved stone relief depicting a medieval legend in which Benedict removes a bladder-stone from the sleeping Emperor Henry II, with a doctor also shown asleep nearby. The image is part of the Wellcome Images collection.

Why it matters

The legend, set long after Benedict's death, shows how his reputation grew into that of a miracle-worker and protector of rulers. Such stories reveal how saints' cults were used to connect monastic communities to royal power and to medicine in the medieval imagination.

Look closer

  • What details in the carving suggest this is a miracle rather than an ordinary medical scene?
  • Why might a story about healing an emperor be useful to the monks who told it?
  • How reliable is this image as evidence about the real Benedict, who lived centuries earlier?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Saint Benedict on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Secondary source

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