Statuary of St. Luthgard by Vaclav Jansa - Prague, Czech Republic
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ToRo61
N 50° 05.211 E 014° 24.511
33U E 457686 N 5548455
The Statuary of St. Luthgard on Charles Bridge
Waymark Code: WMTXTJ
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 01/20/2017
Views: 39
Statuary of St. Luthgard
The sandstone statuary was created by Matyáš Bernard Braun in 1710 and donated by Evžen Tyttl (1666–1738), an abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Plasy. It is a superb Baroque statuary, the best one on the bridge and the first known statue of Matyáš Bernard Braun in Bohemia (he was only 26 years old when he made it). Braun was probably inspired by the painting of his friend, Petr Jan Brandl (1668-1735), or the Ecstasy of St. Theresa by Giovanni Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). The statuary depicts St. Luitgarda who, before her death, saw the crucified Jesus Christ who embraced her, pressed her lips against his wounds and exchanged his heart for hers. On the beautiful pedestal (Braun perhaps collaborated with František Maxmilián Kanka, 1796–1859, or Jan Blažej Santini-Eichel, 1677–1723), there is an oval slab with the Latin inscription St. Luitgarda from the Cistercian Order; on the right, there is the Latin inscription The vivified side gave a heart for another heart. From the Cistercian breviary for 15 June and on the left, there is the Latin inscription Embraced with the arm of the crucified Christ. At the back of the pedestal, there is the Latin inscription Erected by the Cistercian Abbey of Plasy in 1710 during the office of Evžen Tyttl, a probost of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Ceská Lípa, in honor of St. Luitgarda. The original of the statuary is now in the Lapidarium of the National Museum; the copy on the bridge was made by B. Rak and J. Novák in 1995. – Below the statuary, on the left, there is a staircase in the Gothic Revival style connecting Charles Bridge with Kampa.
The author of this painting is Václav Jansa. You can find this painting in book 'Starou Prahou Václava Jansy' (
visit link) .
Vaclav Jansa (October 22, 1859 Slatinice - June 29, 1913 Cernošice) (
visit link) Czech landscape artist and illustrator, best known for these views, originally painted in water-colour.
Jansa was apprenticed to buyers, but later he devoted himself to his hobby of drawing and painting. Vaclav Jansa traveled a lot and took to painting landscapes. He painted mostly southern Bohemia and Giant Mountains. Since 1893 was redeveloped historic districts of Prague, Prague ghetto and parts of the Old and New Town. In this time Jansa painted cca 150 colored watercolors documenting disappearing part of the city.