Charles Bride Tower and Garden in Lesser Town

Exam Details

Test is next week in the classroom; paper-based. Inform instructor for illness.

Part 1: Visual Recognition

8 to 10 slides of artwork/buildings. Identify:

  • Name: e.g., St. Vitus Cathedral, Charles Bridge.

  • Architect/Artist: e.g., Peter Parler, Matthias Bernard Braun.

  • Style: e.g., High Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance.

  • Dating: Exact date, year, decade, half-century, or full century.

Also, identify significant individuals in artworks and review iconography (symbols, saints, allegorical figures).

Part 2: Written Questions

  • Matching section: Historical dates with events/constructions/movements.

  • Specific formatting: Exact dates (day, month, year) for events/buildings.

  • Example questions:

    • Five Gothic art/architecture examples in Prague (location, characteristics).

    • Three Renaissance/Baroque art/architecture examples (creators/patrons).

    • Key artists/master builders: King Charles IV (e.g., Peter Parler, Master Theodoric) or Emperor Rudolph II (e.g., Bartholomeus Spranger, Giuseppe Arcimboldo).

Study Materials

  • Personal class notes, photographs from lectures/site visits.

  • Recommended reading: "Prague: Eleven Centuries of Architecture."

  • E-learning documents: List of all key sites visited/discussed.

Class Activities Overview

  • Charles Bridge:

    • Sculpture decoration: Predominantly Baroque era.

    • 30 statues: 2 per each of the 15 piers.

    • First statue: John of Nepomuk in 1683, cast in bronze (others mostly sandstone). Symbol of Counter-Reformation.

    • Baroque movement: Flourished late 17th17^{th} and early 18th18^{th} centuries. Influenced by events like The Black Death.

    • Important Statues on the Bridge:

    • Justice Statue: Commissioned by Faculty of Law of Charles University. Allegory of Justice.

    • Mary and Jesus Statue: Quintessential Baroque, dynamic poses, emotional.

    • Chronograms: Hidden dates (Roman numerals) in Latin text.

    • Prominent sculptors: Matthias Bernard Braun, Brokoff Family (Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff, Jan Brokoff).

    • Iconographic methods:

    • Arma Christi: Tools of Christ's torture/crucifixion.

    • Vera Icon: "True image" of Jesus (e.g., Veil of Veronica).

  • Church of Saint Nicholas (Lesser Town):

    • Jesuit order: Paramount example of High Baroque artistry.

    • Instrumental in Counter-Reformation: Spectacular, emotionally overwhelming worship spaces.

    • All artistic elements carry deep religious/allegorical significance.

  • Bedřich Garden: Notable Baroque garden (original plan included Wallenstein Garden, closed for renovations).

Discussion on the Thirty Years' War

  • 1618–1648: Crucial for Prague's Baroque context.

  • Key figure: Albrecht von Wallenstein.

  • Battle of White Mountain (1620): Defeat for Bohemian Protestants, led to re-Catholicization and Habsburg rule.

  • Consequences: Population decline, economic devastation, starvation. Contributed to the rise of monumental Baroque architecture and art as a response of triumph, renewal, and faith.