The State Research Library was built 1711-1714 by Jakub Auguston on the site of five houses which had been burnt, and which were purchased by Countess Katerina Vratislavova of Mitrovice. Of the original construction, the northern facade has remained untouched, linked on both floors by a parallel row of pillars and balanced by the sequence of the windows.
The exterior has changed considerably with subsequent modifications; the courtyard had the library hall added in the 1960s. The refectory was also modified and Baroque frescoes restored. The monastery was discontinued in 1782 and was purchased by the city for use as a school.
1804-1809 the master-builder S. M. Schell built the Philosophical Institute onto the monastery on the site of the moat, this in the Classical style of Louis XVI. The tower of the former Litice gate was also attached to the building. Schell's imposing construction created a new dominant feature in the south-east part of the old city.
In the 20th century a Baroque portal was transferred from house No. 139 in the square to the building on B. Smetana Street.
The author of this painting is Karel Votlucka, a native of Pilsen (born on October 1, 1896, Pilsen – June 2, 1963, Pilsen), a Czech painter, graphic artist, and illustrator. Votlucka had a keen interest in architecture. Throughout his life, he created several hundred drawings of various buildings from places where he studied and subsequently lived, such as Prague, Pilsen, Domažlice, or places he visited, including Trnava, Hodonín, Olomouc, and Brno. Some of these drawings were then published in books such as "Plzenské pomnenky", "Stará Plzen ocima Karla Votlucky", "Pražská nádvorí" and "Stará Plzen."
K. Votlucka was very fond of depicting the corners of old towns - especially his native Pilsen. He painted a number of buildings that were later demolished as part of the redevelopment. In 1942, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Pilsen brewery, the brewery management commissioned a pictorial documentation of not only the brewery itself, but also important city buildings or places. In the period 1939-1942, he worked on a large-scale project documenting one of Pilsen's phenomena - Pravovarecnické houses (houses that were entitled to brew beer).
This drawing comes from the book "Stará Plzen ocima Karla Votlucky". The book is available for example directly in Pilsen in the library of the West Bohemian Museum (
visit link) .