Old Town Hall by Jaroslav Setelik - Prague, Czech Republic
Posted by: ToRo61
N 50° 05.222 E 014° 25.259
33U E 458578 N 5548468
The south-east corner of the Old Town Hall with astronomical clock
Waymark Code: WM167X4
Location: Hlavní město Praha, Czechia
Date Posted: 05/28/2022
Views: 11
The Old Town Hall was established in 1338 as the seat of the Old Town administration. The oldest part of the complex consists of the southern wing a beautiful Gothic tower with a bay chapel and a unique astronomical clock – known as the Orloj – where, every hour between 9 am and 11 pm, the twelve apostles appear. The Gothic Revival eastern wing of the Town Hall was destroyed during the Prague Uprising on May 8, 1945 and was never rebuilt. The visitor route includes the chapel, historical halls, the underground areas and the tower.
The astronomical clock on the Southern side of the town hall’s tower was built in 1410 by Mikuláš of Kadan, and perfected at the end of the 15th century by master Hanuš of Ruže. According to a legend by Jirásek, the astronomical clock was built by master Hanuš. After the completion, Prague councilmen had him blinded in order to prevent him from building a copy. Master Hanuš took his revenge by stopping the astronomical clock. In fact, the astronomical clock really did stop in 1865, and there was a risk that it would be removed. Luckily, Prague watchmaker Ludvík Hainz managed to repair the mechanism, and he became its caretaker together with his descendants.
The author this painting is Jaroslav Šetelík. You can find this painting in book 'Praha' (
visit link) .
Jaroslav Šetelík, baptized Jaroslav Jan (10 August 1881 in Tábor - 12 December 1955 in Prague), was a Czech academic painter and landscape painter.
The subjects of his paintings, mostly watercolours, were sceneries from Prague, Kutná Hora, Louny, Domažnice, etc. He also visited the High Tatras several times. He also worked on large paintings, painting mostly the city of Prague. Yugoslavia, Egypt, etc.