Zprávy památkové péče, 2015 (vol. 75), issue 3

Editorial

Karel Kibic

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):193  

Old Town Square (essay on the site's importance)

Václav Ledvinka

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):195-200  

As a historical essay, the article outlines the history and development of Prague's Old Town Square from the oldest preserved evidence to the present. As part of a chronologically arranged survey, it highlights the major events that not only formed the area but also held significance and importance for the entire location. Based on a summary of developments, it attempts to formulate what the main heritage and commemorative values are for this site and to create a basis for considering the future of the square.

Old Town Hall - an exceptional building of medieval Prague's past

Karel Kibic

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):201-210  

This article summarizes findings concerning the historical and architectural development and the quality of the Old Town Hall. Historical/construction research was exhaustively worked up for the Old Town Hall and the neighboring houses (Dobroslav Líbal), city administration in the Old Town under Charles IV was newly assessed (Václav Ledvinka), and crests of distinguished members of the city council up to 1365 under Charles IV were ascertained from the facade of the chapel (Rostislav Nový). In the article, both issues are reflected in the development of the Town Hall building, while the question of whether the tower was already created during the time...

Heritage approaches at the peak of the modern era: third competition for the reconstruction of the Old Town Hall in 1909

Ladislav Zikmund-Lender

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):211-218  

This article deals primarily with competition proposals selected in the third contest for the completion of the Old Town Hall and the historicisms, traditionalisms, romanticisms, and classicisms that allowed their heritage conformity. Even though only the historicist and conservative proposal of Antonin Wiehl in the Neo-Renaissance won, notable contributions to the inclusion of survivalism and revivalism in modernism were mostly from the proposals of Pavel Janák, Alois Dryák, Bohumil Hübschmann (Hypšman), and Antonín Engel. The proposal of Theodor Petřík, awarded second prize, also integrated the palatial type with a high pilaster order and arcade...

The Marian Column and its square (notes on meaning and place)

Vít Vlnas

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):219-226  

The article describes the history of the creation and destruction of the Marian Column on the Old Town Square. The first part summarizes the history of the preparation, production, and erection of the Marian Column. It goes on to closely examine its iconography and seek out artistic and ideological drafts for its final design, which has, among others, a distinctive anti-Lutheran emphasis. The second part is devoted to later reflections concerning the monument, especially in the 19th century when it became the subject of nationalist sentiments and one of the centers of the increasingly aggravated dispute between nationalities, faiths, and political...

Columns demolished and re-built. Iconoclasm as an imaginary but eternal rival of heritage preservation

Vratislav Nejedlý

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):227-235  

The article uses the example of the destruction !of the Marian Column to address the history of iconoclasm as a latent component of cultural identity within the framework of the Czech lands. It first briefly recalls the Christian roots of iconoclasm, after which it focuses on domestic sources of the iconoclastic tradition related to pre-Hussite thinking and later to the actual Hussite movement (although ironically not with the teachings of Hus himself). It continues by recalling iconoclastic events associated with the conflict between Protestants and Catholics in the 17th and 18th centuries. The article also commemorates lesser known iconoclastic events...

Krocín fountain. Its fame, barbaric demise and the impossibility of recovery

Kateřina Bečková

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):236-239  

The Krocín Fountain on the Old Town Square was an extremely valuable sculptural work from the late 16th century. In 1862 it was unceremoniously removed from the square on the justification that its technical and sculptural repair was too expensive for the city council. Some of the pieces were also used secondarily as building material for the foundations of the gasworks in Žižkov. This literally barbaric act resulted in lasting trauma for the Czech cultural community which led to attempts at the restoration of the fountain torso and its renewal in the public environment in 1895 and 1915. Each time, however, the intention proved unfeasible since it...

Archaeology of the Old Town Square. The issue of heritage values of the historic underground of a public space

Jan Havrda, Jaroslav Podliska

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):240-249  

Prague's Old Town Square is a site with an extremely high historical value. In addition to the visible monuments, however, there are hidden monuments of an archaeological nature concealed beneath its tiles. Information from archeological research is nearly the sole source for their identification and evaluation.With the exception of not very quality research on the site of a fire tank in 1943, no major surface archaeological research has taken place on the Old Town Square. Most of the archaeological data was obtained during the documentation of excavation walls for utilities. As of now, we have 60 registered archaeological documented points and...

Old Town Square as a dictionary for heritage preservation

Ondřej Šefců

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):250-253  

The Old Town Square is perceived as an integral part of the Old Town and Old Prague in general, as a kind of constant element that has been here from the earliest stages of the city's development (or perhaps even earlier) and which will always be here. But a deeper insight into the development of the square, especially over the last 200 years, shows what kind of deep changes took place here and could have taken place, and how sometimes it was just a remarkable coincidence which contributed to the fact that the square has remained almost complete and, even today, despite all the devastation resulting from the weakly managed phenomenon of mass tourism,...

The risks of renovating the Marian Column on the Old Town Square

Lubomír Sršeň

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):254-260  

The article returns to the current debate on the possible renewal of the Marian Column on the Old Town Square and attempts to summarize the most important heritage and ideological arguments that lead to doubts about the entire project and its hitherto implementation. The introduction deals with an analysis of the ideological mission of the demolished statue which forms the core of the disputes in the public debate, the main points of which are summarized in the article. The main focus, however, is on the actual heritage and restoration aspects of the problem. It reminds the reader of the obscurities regarding whether the renovation should be about...

Memorandum on the restoration of the Marian Column on the Old Town Square in Prague

Pavel Kalina

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):261-264  

The Prague Marian Column must be seen in its global context. The oldest pillar bearing the statue of the Virgin Mary was the Colonna della Pace at the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, erected by Carlo Maderno for Pope Paul V in 1614. After several decades, the Roman model became popular in Central Europe. In Munich, Elector Maximilian had a Marian Column built in 1637 to 1638. After the Battle of Jankov (1645), the Swedish army even threatened Vienna. Emperor Ferdinand III then decided to dedicate the entire country to the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary and promised to build a column modeled after Munich in Vienna in her honor. The...

Rebirth of the monumental work of Peter Parléř on the Old Town Square. One of the winning designs from the last contest at the Old Town Hall Square and completion of the square

František Kašička, Milan Pavlík

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):265-268  

In the article, the authors recall their proposal for the completion of the Old Town Hall from the last competition of 1987. Its design was based on the idea of the strict conservation of historic street lines and a respect for the qualities of the space. After a series of competitions, the authors then presented a proposal related to a third of the preserved state of the medieval Town Hall with all the details, including the chapel. The author of the original proposal was likely the world-renowned ar0chitect Petr Parléř and was realized by the Parléř workshop of Wenceslas (Václav) IV.

A conundrum requiring more time. Several comments on the debate on the future of the Old Town Square

Jakub Bachtík

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):269-273  

The essay is a polemical contribution to the debate on the completion and reconstruction of the Old Town Square. Its aim is to highlight, on a problematic plane, the idea of returning to the medieval form of the Town Hall, both from a heritage and urban perspective. It also covers the evaluation of frequently mentioned foreign examples and drafts, in conclusion attempting to explain why the completion of the Old Town Square under current conditions is not a necessary solution at the present time.

Reminder on the restoration of the shields on the facade of house no. 603 I at the corner of Old Town Square and Celetná Street

Jiřina Muková

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):274-275  

The article focuses on house no. 603/I on the Old Town Square, during the renovation of which in the 1980's replicas of the original gables were returned to the roof, previously taken down during the reconstruction in 1858. The text recalls the construction history of the building and the characteristics of its layout and structure.

Decoration of the Treasury in the Telč State Chateau and its draft basis

Jan Salava

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):276-284  

The article discusses the sgraffito decoration in the Treasury room at the State Telč Castle, elaborating on the hitherto identified draft material in the work of Rudolf Wyssenbach. It now dates the decorations to the early 1560's, possibly to the end of the 1550's. It takes into account the existing knowledge on the drafts and possible similarities to sgraffito decoration in nearby Slavonice, from where workshop of Leopold Estreicher worked in Telč and in the historically and architecturally identical Town Hall in Moravská Třebová. On the possible iconography of the room, a similar work can be seen by Jacques Androueta Du Cerceau I, whose works inspired...

Josef Krása a středověké nástěnné malby. K 30. výročí úmrtí přední osobnosti českých dějin umění

Zuzana Všetečková

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):285-288  

Myslbekův pomník svatého Václava volá o pomoc

Václav Rybařík

Zprávy památkové péče 2015, 75(3):288-292