Calvary by Jan Holecek - Prague, Czech Republic
Posted by: 
ToRo61
N 50° 05.185 E 014° 24.743
33U E 457962 N 5548404
Calvary - Holy Cross by Jan Holecek - the statuary on Charles Bridge
Waymark Code: WM187M6
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 06/15/2023
Views: 4
On the Charles Bridge there are 30 statues of saints. Some of them complete the look of some puzzles. The Calvary sculpture even forms the main element of this puzzle. I think it would not be a bad thing at all if a separate series of "The statues of the Charles Bridge" was created.
"Calvary is an outdoor sculpture by Emanuel Max, installed on the north side of the Charles Bridge in Prague. The sculpture features a crucifix surrounded by the Hebrew words "kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai Tzva’ot" (English: holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts) from the Kedushah. In 1696, a Jewish communal leader named Elias Backoffen was forced to pay for the inscription after being accused of blasphemy. The aleph in the word "Tzva’ot" is backwards, as the letter was removed by the Nazis during the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and later mistakenly placed after the war. The vav in the word "Adonai" has gone missing. In 2009, explanatory plaques were added in English, Czech and Hebrew after the Mayor of Prague was petitioned by a group of North American rabbis."
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The author this painting is Josef Holecek (*5.7.1902 Krocehlavy, Kladno - +31.7.1953 Krkonoše). He was landscape painter and professor at the grammar school in Príbram. He worked mainly in Prague and Príbram, but also in Slovakia.