Sculptural group of St. Ludmila with infant St. Wenceslas on Charles Bridge / Sousoší Sv. Ludmily s malým sv. Václavem na Karlove moste (Prague)
N 50° 05.195 E 014° 24.611
33U E 457805 N 5548423
Depicted Baroque sculptural group of St. Ludmila with infant St. Wenceslas (Sv. Ludmila s malým sv. Václavem) is one of 31 historic statues (...or groups) decorating famous Gothic Charles Bridge (Karluv most) in Prague' centre.
Waymark Code: WMNG7Y
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 03/10/2015
Views: 52
Depicted Baroque sculptural group of St. Ludmila with infant St. Wenceslas (Sv. Ludmila s malým sv. Václavem) is one of 31 historic 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.
Baroque sculptural group of St. Ludmila with infant St. Wenceslas is the 8th one on the left looking from the Old Town Bridge Tower. The sandstone sculptural group of St. Ludmila teaching little St. Wenceslas to read is probably work of the workshop of Matthias Bernard Braun (after 1720). St. Ludmila is holding a veil, with which she was strangled, in her left hand. Her right hand is pointing out words in the Bible to teach her grandson St. Wenceslas to read. The relief on the pedestal depicts the murder of St. Wenceslas. The statue replaced the statuary of St. Wenceslas standing between two angels that was made by Italian sculptor Ottavio Mosto (1659-1701) in 1696 and fell into the river during the flood of 1784. The statue on the bridge is a copy made by Jan Kacer and M. Kacerová in 1999. The original is in Gorlice at Vyšehrad. The torso of the original statue made by Ottavio Mosto is now in the Lapidarium of the National Museum - some of its parts were not retrieved from the river until 2004.