My prior Art posts can be found HERE.
How do we move away from being a civilization that produces art that causes comments like, “my five year old could make this,” back to being one that creates beauty and inspires deep questions? We must reject modernity and embrace tradition. To embrace tradition, we must first learn about it..
Let’s study art history together.
Statue of Saint Wenceslas, Wenceslas Square (Prague, Czech Republic)
| Artist | Josef Václav Myslbek |
|---|---|
| Type | Sculpture |
| Location | Prague, Czech Republic |
 | |
| Website | http://www.prague.eu/en/object/places/1878/statue-of-st-wenceslas |
This is one of the most epic statues in the world, residing in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Wenceslas, armored and on horseback, is up on a pedestal surrounded by holy people on all sides. The monument – which dates back to the late 19th and early 20th century – depicts a group of Czech patron saints, including also Saint Ludmila, Saint Agnes of Bohemia, Saint Prokop, and Saint Adalbert of Prague.
I don’t know how you could rank saints, and it’s probably not appropriate to try to do so, but the Czech people have a STRONG contingent of holy patrons.
I do wonder though how the other patron saints feel about Wenceslas being on the horse while they don’t get one. I suspect they’d be humble and happy to contribute to the aesthetics. For that matter, Wenceslas might wish he were viewed less as a ruler and more as a holy man himself. Just as God places our lives in accordance to His will, sometimes the artist sculpts us how he likes.
I also wonder whether the creation of a Wenceslas song in England inspired the locals to better and more visibly honor him. Is it a coincidence that the English published Good King Wenceslas in 1853, it turned into a big caroling hit, and then only a couple of decades later he had an epic statue constructed in his homeland? It seems the two are likely related events.
(for more on the statue… via wiki)
The statue of Saint Wenceslas (Czech: Socha svatého Václava) in Prague, Czech Republic depicts Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. It is installed at Wenceslas Square.
Description
The mounted saint was sculpted by Josef Václav Myslbek in 1887–1924, and the image of Wenceslas is accompanied by other Czech patron saints carved into the ornate statue base: Saint Ludmila, Saint Agnes of Bohemia, Saint Prokop, and Saint Adalbert of Prague. The statue base, designed by architect Alois Dryák, includes the inscription: “Svatý Václave, vévodo české země, kníže náš, nedej zahynouti nám ni budoucím” (English: “Saint Wenceslas, duke of the Czech land, prince of ours, do not let perish us nor our descendants”).
For a couple of videos to provide a sense of scale and some additional detailing on the artwork, let me direct you to the following:
