St. Vitus on Charles Bridge / Sv. Vít na Karlove moste (Prague)
N 50° 05.226 E 014° 24.464
33U E 457630 N 5548482
Depicted Baroque statue of St. Vitus (Sv. Vít) is one of 31 historic sandstone statues (...or groups) decorating famous Gothic Charles Bridge (Karluv most) in Prague' centre.
Waymark Code: WMNG2D
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 03/09/2015
Views: 46
Depicted Baroque statue of St. Vitus (Sv. Vít) is one of 31 historic sandstone statues (...or groups) decorating famous Gothic Charles Bridge (Karluv most) in Prague' centre.
What makes Charles Bridge a top tourist attraction is the open air sculptural gallery which adorns it. It was created much later than the actual bridge construction, mostly in 1706-1714 in the expectation of the canonisation of John of Nepomuk (Jan Nepomucký). Despite the partial changes the gallery has undergone since its creation, it is still a great reflection of the history of the Czech lands - there are 31 statues and groups of statues in all on the bridge today with approximately 100 figures, among them also prime works of the great men of central European sculpture Matthias B. Braun and Ferdinand M. Brokoff. Since 1965 the precious originals of the statues have been gradually replaced by replicas. In extent and quality this bridge gallery has no equal in Europe.
Statue of St. Vitus is the 14th one on the right looking from the Old Town Bridge Tower. The sandstone statue is work of Ferdinand Maxmilián Brokoff (1714) and donated by Matthias Adalbert Macht of Lowenmacht, a dean of the Chapter of Vyšehrad. St. Vitus is portrayed as a Roman soldier with a medieval ducal hat. He is standing on a rock with caves out of which peaceful-looking lions come out. The medieval hat symbolizes the relationship between the saint and medieval Bohemia – it was the relic of St. Vitus for which Prince Wenceslas founded a church at the Prague Castle. Emperor Charles IV acquired some more relics of the saint and placed them in the same church.